Network

NETWORK / 5 / DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 E D I T O R ' S N O T E Networks mostly heaved a sigh of relief in December when Ofgem released the ndings of an independent review of Low Carbon Network Fund spending. The report from consultancies Pöyry and Ricardo Energy and Environment con rmed that the fund should deliver good value for money. Bene ts from the £250m spent will range between a possible £1bn to over £8bn depending on how proactive net- works were in adopting innovation successes into business as usual. This seems enough to have convinced Ofgem to preserve innovation funding for the time being – though it has trimmed the budget for DNOs to encourage further e‡ ciency (see p14). However, with the bene ts identi ed by Pöyry still largely theo- retical and some signi cant criticisms of network innovation culture included in the consultants' work, network operators need to make some strong new year's resolutions to improve their approach to a range of key issues. The consultants' main concern was that, although companies have enthusiastically applied their funding to varied and worth- while projects, fundamentally there is a lack of conviction that innovation is really business critical. This is a core cultural problem for networks and one which they must acknowledge and resolve if innovation to meet the con- stantly evolving and increasingly complex system challenges of the future is to become sustainable. Recommendations arising from the LCNF review will also chal- lenge DNOs to work more collaboratively to develop shared innovation plans. The suggested requirement for future DNO funding arrangements to mandate the development of a collec- tive DNO "innovation roadmap" (in partnership with the system operator and transmission, gas and heat network operators) is a nod towards the need for whole system thinking around energy system transformation. It should also help to allay concerns expressed in the review that there is not enough knowledge- sharing between DNOs. Although speci cally targeted at DNOs, the LCNF review has valuable messages for all parties engaged in energy system inno- vation and dovetails closely with the feedback Ofgem issued to applicants in the most recent round of the Network Innovation Competition (see p36). If networks are looking for inspiration when com- piling their New Year resolutions lists, they could do worse than starting here. C OMING SO ON ∙ Network innovation themes • Power electronics in distribution networks • CATO and OFTO • District heating and energy systems in Denmark • Winter focus - storm response YOUR NET W ORK Give the people what they want Let us know what projects, technologies and topics you want us to cover Have your say Express your opinions and respond to content by blogging or writing for the magazine A social Network Follow us on Twitter: @Network_mag Email the editor: janegray@fav-house.com Jane Gray janegray@fav-house.com

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