Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | FEBRUARY 2022 | 27 Talking Points… Customers and net zero are central to digital transition B ritain's energy system is chang- ing. The drive towards net zero is dramatically increas- ing the number of energy assets (generation, storage, import and demand) across the system, and this is becoming progressively challenging to manage. Digitalisation of the energy system is critical to ensure that energy assets are integrated to deliver an e• cient, stable whole system that helps customers realise the outcomes they need. The Energy Digitalisation Taskforce, chaired by Laura Sandys and run by the Energy Systems Catapult, has just published its € nal report and recommen- dations outlining how that can happen in the years ahead. Our report – Delivering a Digitalised Energy System – puts customer satisfac- tion and decarbonisation at the heart of its proposals. It presents six key recom- mendations, each of which are supported by a series of actions to realise the goal. 1. Unlock the value of customer actions and assets. 2. Deliver interoperability. 3. Implement new digital governance approach and entities. 4. Adopt digital security measures. 5. Enable carbon monitoring and accounting. 6. Embed a digitalisation culture. Customer actions and assets will be critical to maintain a balanced and stable future energy system. Digitalisation can give customers control and help hide unnecessary complexity. One of the key actions is to develop an industry-wide portal for customers to manage consent around their energy data. This consent portal would put them in charge of how their information is used, building trust and con€ dence about who has access to their data and why. Another of the proposed actions is to mandate smart energy assets – introduc- ing minimum smart hardware require- ments for devices that meet certain demand or generation criteria. This will help us to decarbonise at the lowest possible cost, by making use of decentralised ' exibility as much as possible rather than costly system upgrades. A base level of interoperabil- ity will be essential in the future energy system; this is why we're propos- ing the development of a digital spine for the energy system. Think of it like a thin layer of digital infrastructure that allows every player on the system to talk to one another in the same language – ingesting, standardising and sharing operationally- critical data in near real-time. With this digital spine, new business entrants will be able to plug and play with the energy system, easily accessing and participating in markets. This creates optionality and ensures that we're able to choose how the energy system operates, rather than being forced into a solution due to inadequate technology. Our recommendation to enable carbon monitoring and accounting will improve visibility and understanding around the carbon impacts of energy, helping engage customers and inform future policy making. Taking forward the taskforce's recom- mendations will require coordinated action by government, the regulator Ofgem and industry itself. An independ- ent digital delivery body – another of our recommendations – which is free from vested interests could help coordinate the delivery a lot of the work. This would create space for the required digital infrastructure to be created close to, but outside of, the government. While digitalisation already underpins a lot of progress we're seeing in the energy sector, it needs more deeply embedding if we're to meet our ambitious net-zero targets – and it will deliver a major step forward when it is. Dr Richard Dobson, practice manager – data systems, Energy Systems Catapult The news in numbers: 3,435 megalitres Latest estimate of the daily de cit of water in England by 2050. 2023 Date Britain's gas networks plan to begin blending hydrogen into the grid. £39m Amount expected to be returned to energy suppliers through the CfD programme for the nal quarter of 2021 – the rst time this has happened. 83% Of voters in "Red Wall" constituencies who support scrapping VAT on energy bills, according to a poll commissioned by the Energy and Utilities Alliance. £13m Amount Yorkshire Water plans to invest to improve water quality at the UK's only designated inland bathing water, in the River Wharfe, Ilkely. 46 years Operating lifetime of the Hunterston B power station, which nally went o' line at the start of January. 800MW Size of the solar project portfolio acquired by Scottish Power in January. ENERGY Switching doldrums Electricity switching was e• ectively put back by € ve years in 2021, according to € gures released in January. According to Electralink, 2021 saw 4.9 million successful changes of supplier, 18% less than the previous year and more than one-€ › h less than in 2019. The last time switches were lower was in 2016 when they totalled 4.8 million. Meanwhile, switching in the € nal month of the year saw a new low since records began in 2012.

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