Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | AUGUST 2021 | 39 use the DFES data as a starting point, but then we're trying to up the engagement with local authorities and unitary authorities and show them the existing data and what that might mean for their area, and discuss their ambitions and strategies so we can update the data to better reflect local policy. "This is adding to the existing stake- holder engagement that's part of the DFES process to incorporate local authority ambi- tion and strategies," Chapter explains. Where's the money? In part, the project could help to identify some of the sector's "missing money" – in other words, the capital expenditure that is saved or retained when a network com- pany opts to procure flexibility rather than physically reinforce the network upgrade infrastructure. While a press announce- ment might declare a "£5 million reinforce- ment saving", o…en there is no way to reflect money "saved" in terms of the bottom line financial accounts. But by looking across both WPD, WWU and the local authorities' budgets, it's pos- sible that avoided costs can be more clearly identified as budget savings. "When we've got a problem with a net- work, we tend to assess that very much in terms of what it means for our network – what's the costs, or the benefit of solutions we propose? But with the EPIC project, can we take into account that benefits to other parties of the solutions that we implement?" Woodruff explains. "If we put in a new transformer rather than buying flexibility services, is there a knock-on benefit to the local authority because the additional capacity helps them with something they're planning, or should we actually avoid the cost because the gas network is doing something the following year? Rather than do the cost benefits sepa- rately for each party, we'll try and take into account the impacts on each other," she says. The EPIC project is exploring the use of an existing so…ware tool to achieve this. "We're looking to give a cost benefit tool devel- oped as part of the Open Network Project its first real-world use. It has been specifically designed to incorporate third party benefits so it should be ideal to help us put together cohesive investment plans." It will also adapt another piece of so…- ware: the Network Investment Forecast Tool (NIFT) from EA Technology, which will analyse the future implications for the low- voltage network infrastructure of the addi- tional loading from heat pumps or EVs. "If you give that a whole load of data for the LV network, it will analyse the impact of those additional heat pumps and electric vehicles associated with a particular distri- bution substation to see what the impacts are likely to be, so it's like a very much more localised version of the analysis we do for the EHV networks," says Woodruff. Looking west EPIC is being trialled in three areas chosen for their contrasting demand profiles: North Filton, a former industrial site now redevel- oped for housing, the business customers in the Bath Enterprise Zone, and commuter belt southwest Bristol. "Some local authorities will have dedi- cated energy specialists, who will have all the data at their fingertips, while others may not have the same resources and processes," says Chapter. "Local authorities are all dif- ferent and may not have the same resources and emphasis, so we're making sure the EPIC process can be adapted to be consistent between them all – and replicable." The process incorporates six steps includ- ing different levels of data exchanges to first create an energy plan, carry out net- work analysis, suggest network investment options and finally combine these to create an investment plan. Once WPD has the drawn up the basic projection, the plan is to use it to explore different use cases and sensitivities to see the different results from different choices. Woodruff emphasises that these are tailored following feedback from local authorities or other partners. For instance, on investment strategies, WPD will be able to compare and contrast investing the minimum required in a "just in time" strategy versus spending more on upfront upgrades and resiliency in a "one- touch" strategy. "You might put in a much larger asset initially when you are confident the capacity will be needed in the future and this will save the cost of repeated incremen- tal upgrades," she says. Other use cases will explore the impact of investment in improving the building stock in an areas in order to improve energy effi- ciency; and different options on expanding capacity using flexibility or by reinforcing an asset. EPIC will also explore different variants for EV charging, such as a greater num- ber of lower capacity street chargers versus fewer high capacity rapid charging hubs, while taking into account any local authority plans, and the impact on both the gas and electricity networks of installing hybrid heat pumps in particular areas. From niche to mainstream At the moment, WPD prefers not to pre-judge how widely the EPIC methodology will be applied a…er the project. "We're not sure if this will be a specialist approach targeted at particular areas where the local authority plans are significantly different to our stra- tegic planning assumptions, or whether we can make this so light and easy to apply that we could make it more widespread," says Woodruff. "Once we've been able to assess the results of working collaboratively in the trial areas we'll be able to see the added value compared to the plans we would have cre- ated working alone. We're hoping to show the added value outweighs the costs of sup- porting the process." But in addressing the current and press- ing need among DNOs to create more trans- parency and visibility across the low-voltage network, it does seem as if EPIC is a project whose time has come. Elaine Knutt, interim UW Innovate editor DNOs need to factor in local authority plans for the distribution and density of EV charge points

• Cover