Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JULY 2021 | 31 and consumers are aware of that value, they can make choices about whether they want di erent levels of reliability, and how much they're willing to pay for it," he said. There was a mixed response to this idea, with one commenting: "I agree that those who are self-resilient will need less invest- ment, but we can't have people priced out of resilience either." Others felt that having twin-track reliability levels would not be practical given how the network operates. The conversation turned to how resilience can be bolstered. "We all accept that elec- tricity demand is going to increase over the next 30 years. At the moment, we all bene€ t from a degree of redundancy in the existing network, in part because demand has fallen, but also because of the way these networks have been designed," observed one attendee. He added: "But as demand grows, the head- room will be eroded, unless we invest. And as that headroom erodes, the reliability of those networks can fall." Another guest noted that "consumer choice and trends will drive this and may lead to increasing levels of investment. "This is a very di erent proposition for regulators, who are traditionally risk averse. But the way we're going with increased demand, if we wait until that demand arrives, we'll never have time to make the investments needed to keep the networks reliable," he said. One idea mooted was whether there needed to be a hybrid model in which some aspects of the energy system are treated as a public good which needs to be protected for reliability, but with another portion that is more „ exible. One guest commented: "People o† en use the example of the internet. The backbone of the internet is relatively € xed from country to country, and businesses and consumers all operate that on a fairly standard basis. But then what goes on it is extremely „ exible. Is there a way in which the energy system can move that way?" Another innovation expert compared the situation to the rollout of broadband. "If you look at the rollout of broadband, it's quite clear that there were signi€ cant parts of soci- ety le† behind, precisely because we were given that choice. If we want everyone to get this at a fair price, we've got to make di‰ cult decisions." One expert noted: "I can see a world where my neighbour doesn't care about short interruptions, they'd rather see a cheaper bill. I choose to put a UPS in my home that keeps the power on for an hour, so short interruptions basically don't exist to me anymore. Whereas my neighbour is paying 20 per cent less, but does get short interruptions." The need for regulatory change and investment It was mentioned earlier in the discussion about the need for regulation to match the increased issues of resilience. One attendee pointed to the scale of the challenge faced. "In my perception, there's a huge amount of work to do out there. We need to get on with it, and the only way to do that is to get ahead of the curve, and start investing ahead of need," he observed. "We've got a planet to save, and we can't waste time. And it's going to cost money. Our goal is to achieve it at minimum cost," he said. Re„ ecting this view, it was generally agreed that RIIO2 represented a signi€ cant opportunity to address this challenge and to enable the investment required to support the energy transition. Denise Chevin, intelligence editor in association with Key points: • As we transition to net zero there will be more demand- related constraints on the system and various new failure modes appearing. • The shi to home working has changed expectations about network reliability with a greater focus on the impact of short interruptions. • Society faces tough deci- sions in paying for the energy transition – with the possibly of a twin-track approach emerging. • Investment is needed now to boost reliability and resil- ience of the networks and needs to be a consideration for RIIO2. Quotes from attendees: "Ultimately, we're confl icted by the fact that the system is changing, the sources of energy are changing. We're moving to lots of decentralised sources, and we've got to adapt to that." "As demand grows, the headroom will be eroded, unless we invest. And as that headroom erodes, the reliability of those networks can fall." "We've got a planet to save, and we can't waste time. And it's going to cost money. Our goal is to achieve it at minimum cost."

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