Utility Week

32 | MARCH 2023 | UTILITY WEEK Electricity continued from previous page Data on demand One factor linking all aspects of exibility is the need for accurate and timely access to data by all actors in the next genera- tion energy system. The Energy Digitalisa- tion Task Force, and a recent joint response by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Ofgem and Innovate UK, both highlighted the urgent need for an integrated and digitalised energy system to underpin the interoperability of the sector. As a central coordinator across actors in the energy system, ESO is currently pro- gressing development of a world-ƒ rst digi- tal twin, or Virtual Energy System, that will pull together "live" data from across the grid and provide relevant access to anyone who needs‡it. Better access to domestic energy data via this new "digital spine" is a key motivation, says Carolina Tortora, head of innovation strategy at National Grid ESO: "Domestic demand is like the ƒ nal frontier, when a lot of exibility comes from domestic demand, we need to understand how much is avail- able for us to ' ex', and the level of ƒ xed ver- sus exible demand." For example, householders typically need to turn their lights on in the evening, as a form of ƒ xed demand, but they may be convinced to turn on their washing machine later or charge their car earlier, creating ex- ible demand. The Virtual Energy System is expected to integrate multiple digital twins developed by di' erent organisations, for example a generator, a transmission or a distribution network. ESO is currently engaging stake- holders to understand what data is useful for what purpose, what can be shared and who should have access, to inform the develop- ment of a governance framework. In order to encourage uptake and investment in digital twin development, it is creating speciƒ c user cases designed to prove value. That work pending, a fully functional digital twin could be up and running in four to ƒ ve years, says Tortora: "By deƒ nition, a digital reproduction of the physical system will never be ƒ nished, but our job will be done when this takes on a life of its own and people want to connect to it because they see the beneƒ ts." Analysis Pilot local network lays foundations for large scale fl exibility A more detailed picture of what a local energy network of the future might look like is being investigated by Northern Powergrid through a £14.5 million Ofgem-funded innovation project in partnership with consultancies TNEI and LCP Delta. The Community DSO initiative runs until 2028 and will develop a new framework to enable Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) across the low-voltage network. SLES man- age electricity demand and availability in hyper-local areas and, according to Northern Powergrid, are considered an important tool to encourage the uptake of low-carbon technolo- gies like domestic solar, EV charging and heat pumps. "Flexibility over the next Ž ve years, and the Ž ve years a' er that, under ED3, will all be about the low-voltage network, and that's never need done before," says Paul Glendin- ning, policy and markets manager at Northern Powergrid. "All the low-carbon technology is going to be in people's houses and in farms on the low-voltage network, so how all that will work together is really important." Lessons from the project will be used to inform network operation strategies and changes to regulations. It will also result in a proof of concept of a replicable local energy market framework suitable for deployment across most network areas. "Commercial arrangements and regula- tions currently make it quite hard to sell the electricity you generate to your neighbour," says Glendinning. "We're suggesting there is a way that a community energy team, perhaps in a village, can share the costs of a wind farm or a solar farm and then also share the power. We're going to do the data and analysis to see how much it can help." Also set on bringing the industry into better alignment, Ofgem is proposing the development of new common digital infra- structure to coordinate energy exibility markets and make them easy to access and‡use. The Public Interest Digital Asset for ex- ibility markets is a long-term vision and could, according to the regulator, present market information and data in a transpar- ent, open and accessible way, and reveal historical performance and trends, a key aim being to help new entrants build their business cases. In addition, it could pro- vide coordination and harmonising services across those markets for stacking revenues, and operational primacy rules, so they work more e' ectively together. Dr Nina Klein, senior manager for energy exibility at Ofgem, tells Utility Week: "There have been lots of discussions around stand- ardising and aligning to support exibility, but we're not seeing the consistent imple- mentation and the pace we would hope for. For many organisations it is still quite hard to really see what's out there, for example market operators don't have visibility of all the assets available and exibility providers can't easily see all the markets they can bid into, which creates a lot of ine• ciencies and ultimately lost value." Ofgem's plan is to test the System Wide Flexibility Exchange concept with indus- try to gauge interest and which areas might need to be modiƒ ed or emphasised. Details will be announced this month (March). It's another potentially crucial piece in the exibility jigsaw, which as the other ini- tiatives detailed here demonstrate, is getting closer to completion by the day. Jane Gray, content director 1617 MAY, NEC, BIRMINGHAM See this content brought to life at Utility Week Live. Register free at: utilityweeklive.co.uk National Grid ESO's Carolina Tortora will speak about smart energy network breakthroughs on the Smart stage at Utility Week Live on 16 May. Ofgem will present on the challenges of preparing for a digital energy future on the Smart stage at Utility Week Live on 16 May. "Domestic demand is like the fi nal frontier, when a lot of fl exibility comes from domestic demand, we need to understand how much is available for us to 'fl ex', and the level of fi xed versus fl exible demand." Carolina Tortora, head of innovation strategy at National Grid ESO "Domestic demand is like the fi nal frontier, when a lot of fl exibility comes from domestic demand, we need to understand how much is available for us to 'fl ex', and the level of fi xed versus fl exible demand."

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