Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/736974
NETWORK / 30 / OCTOBER 2016 T he Low Carbon Network Fund provided £500 million for distribution network operators (DNOs), and it has funded numerous projects to prepare them for the transition to a low-carbon future. Many of those projects have now come to a close and attention has turned to analysis of the huge body of research work that has been amassed – and to assessing whether the mechanism was a success. The most common benchmark of success is the adoption of project findings into business as usual (BAU) activity. Given the requirement for BAU adoption to be reported in project close-down What is success? documents, and the need to prove "successful delivery" before an element of the project cost can be recouped, a focus on BAU is inevitable. But on this marker alone the mechanism does not fair particularly well. A recent review of the outcomes of the LCNF by the UK Energy Research Centre said it had found "limited evidence of success" of both the option and the actual deployment of innovation in the near term. It said this partly reflects the low technology readiness of some of the projects – below the stated level in the funding guidance. But should BAU even be used as the marker? If success is to be Transfer to business as usual has become the mark of success for innovation funding, but is it the right measure? Context Learning topics Facilitation of general demand growth Facilitation of LCT demand Facilitation of DG Improvement of reliability of supply Network operation Storage Power flow management local co-ordinated Voltage control local co-ordinated Flexible demand Power flow management local co-ordinated Generator control Power flow management local co-ordinated Voltage control local co-ordinated Network reconfiguration Power Flow management local co-ordinated Equipment for active regulation of voltage Voltage control local co-ordinated Network visibility and design Real-time thermal ratings Enhanced network monitoring Enhanced network visualisation Improved understanding of existing demand Improved understanding of LCT 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Heat map of LCNF project activity, UKERC INNOVATION