Utility Week

38 | AUGUST 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Analysis Tapping into local knowledge WPD has developed a methodology called EPIC for assessing the types and timing of distribution grid reinforcements using data from local authorities to provide a more detailed picture of what's required at a local level. Elaine Knutt talks to the company. R egional energy strategies are emerging from focus groups and workshops in council offices across the country, but just how well do their aspirations match up with the pipes, wires and substations on the ground? Meanwhile, gas and electricity network operators produce technically detailed Dis- tribution Future Energy Strategies that might reflect local authorities' big picture thinking but rarely capture the fine-grained detail of localised plans or low-voltage networks. To span between the two types of future- gazing, Western Power Distribution (WPD) is five months into its EPIC project, or Energy Planning Integrated with Councils. EPIC sets out a process for engagement and data sharing between the distribution network operator (DNO) and local authori- ties, to align the two types of approach. The idea is to produce robust projections that can lead to real cost savings – for both the coun- cils and the network operator. There is also a cross-vector approach, with gas network operator Wales and West Utilities (WWU) being factored in too. "We don't want to allocate lots of heat pumps to an area where the gas network is being changed for heat networks, or another alternative. So it's checking our assumptions – not just between us and the local authority, but a three-way process that involves the gas distribution as well," says Jenny Woodruff, project lead and low carbon and innovation engineer at WPD. The 20-month project, which launched in February 2021, has funding of £540,000 from WPD and WWU's Network Innovation Allow- ance, and will also draw on the expertise of energy consultancy Regen, Power Systems Consultants (PSC) and EA Technology. EPIC should also have wider resonance outside WPD's South West patch. "We are not the only people looking at local energy planning – there is a lot of interest," says Woodruff. "A work group of the ENA Open Networks project is looking at how best to share data to support planning activities and we are trying to work in step with what they are doing. We'll also be giving a cost benefit analysis tool developed by Open Networks its first use in practice and hopefully that will provide useful feedback." Essentially, the EPIC project builds on the type of scenario planning that WPD and other DNOs already carry out annually, to create regional Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES) based on National Grid's Future Energy Scenarios. Building a picture block by block As Woodruff explains, the DNOs first iden- tify various "building blocks" that are set to change the regional supply and demand profiles, such as electric vehicle (EV) charge points, new housing or commercial devel- opments, or domestic PV installations. By adding the impact from the building blocks to existing known loads, WPD can carry out power flow analysis and model the impact on the network. This allows it to identify potential over- loading of the network or areas that will be close to the voltage limits, determining whether to plan reinforcement works in specific areas or to procure flex services to resolve the issue. But that DFES process is carried out only in relation to the 33kV networks and higher voltages; now, through the EPIC project, WPD is turning to lower voltage networks. "We're not starting from scratch, but the current process is limited to the 33kV and the high-voltage network, where there is a need to think long term and in advance. If we're going to do something like introduce a new primary substation, that's a long lead time item, it's not something you can do very, very fast. So you need to have that forward view looking several years ahead," says Woodruff. "We're now saying, can we extend that process to the lower voltages, so that we'll be able to show on a more local scale where we think the network will need to be improved?" "And we think that having it at a more local scale will also make it easier for local authorities to engage with and relate to," adds Christine Chapter, head of innovation at Regen. "The service area covered by one primary substation can be quite large and it can be difficult for the local authority to say 'what does that mean?'" For example, a council with high ambi- tions on transport electrification might want more EV charge points than would be nor- mally allowed for WPD's pro rata formula based on the FES; the EPIC project can now capture that aspiration and plan for it at a localised level. Other variables might include small-scale renewable generation or the installation of local heat networks. "While the FES works downwards, what we're trying to do with EPIC is more of a bot- tom up approach on the lower voltages. We'll It's useful to assess the costs and benefits of line reinforcement against the alternatives

• Cover