Utility Week

22 | JULY 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Analysis Paving the way to net zero What enabling actions are needed to ensure we make best use of data and digitalisation on the road to net zero? A new report from Utility Week and CGI highlights five key requirements. T he UK government's bold action in 2019 to commit to a legally binding net zero emissions target for 2050 has had wide-ranging ramifications. Not least, it has proved a catalyst for realisations within the energy sector that rapid decarbonisation will require very different methods of system operation, regulation and consumer par- ticipation to be brought forward at pace – as well as the application of new incentives to drive strong cohesion between these areas. To achieve this transformation, it is now acknowledged that utilities need to pro- foundly change their relationship with data and digitalisation. However, while the will to innovate is strong and some companies have reaped rewards from the application of technology to make efficiency gains, plan investments and interpret shi…ing consumer needs, progress on accessing the potential presented by digital innovation is patchy across the sector. As many industry commentators have observed, a lack of focus, coordination and strategic purpose in digital transformation, as well as inadequate regulatory incentives for digital investment, have le… the sector in what one leader recently described to Utility Week as a position of "digital deficit". Picking up the pace of change The sector now needs to respond vigorously to a collective imperative to correct this investment lag, to innovate and maximise the potential of data to deliver the net zero transi- tion in a cost-effective and equitable way. Across an array of energy value chains, data must be applied to create optimised, flexible and intelligent infrastructure that meets the needs of the environment. Mean- while, access to system data is also seen as key to the emergence of agile markets for ser- vices that can engage energy users, reward demand-side participation in the system and empower consumers to make decisions or behaviour changes which will positively con- tribute to the net zero agenda. This need to put data at the heart of the UK's energy transition strategy has been rec- ognised over the past three years in a range of significant publications and industry workstreams, including in the pivotal Energy Data Taskforce publication A Strategy for a Modern, Digitalised Energy System. This landmark report set in tow a range of important work in the industry to align data and digitalisation strategies and encour- age progress towards a principle of "pre- sumed open" data so that diverse innovation in operations, products and services can flourish. Much progress has been made, with initi- atives like the Energy Networks Association's Open Networks project and its Data and Digi- talisation Steering Group convening techni- cal experts from across the gas and power infrastructure base to tackle challenges around data availability, accessibility, and interoperability. Meanwhile, steady progress from suppli- ers on the GB smart meter rollout is extending visibility of consumer energy usage data and the Data Transfer Service operator Electra- Link has made available a Distributed Energy Resources Register to help improve visibility of distributed generation and devices. These are just a few examples of the positive devel- opments that have taken place. Working group beliefs The following five statements express a set of common beliefs held by participants in Utility Week and CGI's recent Chatham House working group on what is needed in data and digitali- sation strategies for the net zero transition. A sixth theme and cross-cutting enabler is identified in the conclusions of the full report as a need for refreshed incentives for digital transformation and data exchanges across the energy sector. We need standards for interoperability Greater pace is needed in the development of enabling standards and frameworks for data interoperability. These standards and frame- works must be fit for whole system use.

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