Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | OCTOBER 2022 | 27 Electricity Sponsored by I N S I G H T R E P O R T Building the flexible grid of the future In this report Introduction The challenges of the energy transition A common framework for flexibility C A S E S T U D Y How technology can accelerate grid edge digitalisation Conclusion V I E W P O I N T Complex challenges, smarter solutions Sponsored by Download the report Download the report Building the Flexible Grid of the Future free at: https:// utilityweek.co.uk/article-type/download/ believes improved collaboration across the sector and increased standardisation will be key going forward. "The system must be based on open, agreed-upon standards, with well-de ned interfaces for interoperability," he says. "This will support ease of use, com- petitiveness and cyber-security. If we don't focus on standardisation, we are all at risk of slowing down innovation." A common framework for exibility The Open Networks programme seeks to facilitate collaboration across the sector, bringing together the nine electricity grid operators in the UK and Ireland to work together to standardise customer experi- ences and align processes. This work should make connecting to the networks as easy as possible, while also bringing record amounts of renewable dis- tributed energy resources, like wind and solar, to the local electricity grid. Randolph Brazier, ENA director, innova- tion and electricity systems, explains that the Open Networks project has been established to drive consistency across the country, "con- sistency in terms of standards, customer ser- vice and these new local … exibility markets". He says that getting regulatory and gov- ernment support for the programme has been vital, along with buy-in from busi- nesses. "That includes not just support for the project, symbolically, but dedicated resources as well. You really need senior buy- in from the outset to help build momentum behind the project," he insists. "If we tried to do it bottom up from some of the working groups, I don't think we would have been as successful and we wouldn't have moved as quickly." Historically, the disjointed nature of the … exibility sector has seen … exible assets earning a "revenue stack" with di‰ erent rev- enue streams from di‰ erent sources, man- aged by di‰ erent parties. These services have been developed separately, evolving incrementally over time, leading to increased inconsistency. It is hoped that the creation of a common framework for … exibility services will help to tackles some of these issues. Emma Burns, interim head of regula- tion at Flexitricity, explains that the current approach can be incredibly confusing for asset owners and energy consumers, cre- ates an unnecessary administrative burden, and can lead to an "unlevel playing eld". "Therefore, increasing consistency between all services that … exibility and DER [demand- side response] participate in is critical to bringing forward the levels of … exibility the system requires," she says. Burns welcomes programmes such as Open Networks, but believes more needs to be done to ensure smooth access for capacity to all the … exibility services. Beyond a common framework, Alex Schoch, head of … exibility at Octopus Energy, would like to see more ambition in the current RIIO-ED2 framework, particu- larly around local … exibility. More broadly, he believes a cultural shi" is needed within the energy sector to help drive the level of change required. "If you look back to 20 years ago, you didn't go into the energy space because you were a risk taker and you wanted to change the industry. It was a job for life, for the Steady Eddies of this world," he quips. "Of course, those people who went into the industry 20 years ago are now generally the executives running di‰ erent parts of the energy industry. Unless there's a real mind shi" , we're not going to move fast enough." Qualcomm Technologies' Faramarz Magh- soodlou agrees that utilities are at di‰ erent stages of their transformation journey. "More technologically advanced utilities are col- laboratively working with forward- looking regulators to drive change in the industry by setting examples for others to model their transformation a" er." Net-zero transition A key area where the sector must move quickly and work closely with government and the regulator is reducing carbon emis- sions. While grid … exibility can help to accel- erate the transition to net zero, there are concerns that the sector is not being ambi- tious enough as we edge closer to the UK's 2050 deadline. Schoch believes there is some solid policy and great aims to achieve a net-zero system, but admits there is o" en a lot of bureaucracy in the way. "The solutions to a lot of these challenges exist today, but they're not being brought in quickly enough," he says. "Some- times there is a trend of trying to solve for a future that is unknown, instead of making incremental, real-world progress today." Schoch reiterates his disappointment in what he describes as a lack of ambition in the RIIO2-ED2 plans, particularly when it comes to tackling carbon and the associated penalties for failing to do the right thing. He believes that the carbon requirements for participants should be clearer, regardless of whether this relates to DNO services or the capacity market. Defending networks' progress towards achieving net zero, ENA's Brazier points to the fact that the sector has already enabled over 30GW of DER to connect to the grid. "We're doing the most that we possibly can within the constraints of the regulatory sys- tem," he says. "When it comes to carbon reporting, we're looking at consistent practices within ENA. We currently have a working group set up to explore that. There is an element of us driving that ourselves, but if you consider investment in the grid, we are constrained by what the regulator allows us to invest." Brazier notes that a lot of potential invest- ment to support low-carbon technologies has been put into so-called "uncertainty mechanisms". In theory, when the demand for renewables increases, the investment is released and the solution is rolled out quickly. "But that mechanism has to be very agile and automatic," he says. "We are unclear on how the regulator is going to do that because it hasn't worked like that historically. "I appreciate the regulator has other pres- sures, including the immediate cost of living crisis, but I do think there is more scope to be more ambitious on net zero." Nadine Buddoo, intelligence editor in association with " If we don't focus on standardisation, we are all at risk of slowing down innovation." Faramarz Maghsoodlou, senior director, business development, energy and utilities digitisation at Qualcomm Technologies Inc " If we don't focus on standardisation, we are all at risk of slowing down innovation." , senior director, business development, energy and utilities digitisation at Qualcomm Technologies Inc

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