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NETWORK / 21 / APRIL 2017 New Thames Valley Vision (NTVV) project SSE Networks set out to investigate the most effective ways to manage, monitor and model the network to meet future electricity consumption behaviours with its £30 million LCNI-funded NTVV project. Using advanced modelling techniques, the project's goal was to forecast how new technologies including energy storage, adoption of localised generation and the implementation of smart meters would affect the distribution of energy in the future. This would then allow the project to anticipate the future network management changes needed to manage the daily run- ning of the network as well as optimising low-carbon generation. Thirty thermal energy storage devices were used to limit the peak export of solar- generated energy onto the low-voltage network. The five-year project came to a close at the end of March. 2 Northern Isles New Energy Solutions (NINES) The NINES smart grid project in Shetland looked at how a number of new solutions could be used to manage the area's heat and energy supply and replace the reliance on the existing diesel-fired Lerwick Power Station. The Scottish Hydro-Electric Power Dis- tribution (SHEPD) pilot project investigated how renewable energy could be integrated into a network using sophisticated model- ling to address fundamental issues in the power system and demand-side manage- ment (using smart heaters and storage capabilities) to help the grid deal with peak demand times. 3 Power Saver Challenge The Power Saver Challenge project pio- neered the use of community engagement to tackle the issue of energy demand rather than engineering solutions, creating a new, direct relationship between a DNO and its end customers. The Electricity North West (ENW) project asked customers in Stockport to cut winter peak electricity use by 10%, thereby reduc- ing capacity demand and allowing the network to test the feasibility of extending the life of existing network assets. 4 As well as installing smart storage heat- ers and adding an 4MW thermal store to the existing district heating system, it looked at the commercial opportunities available in persuading businesses to shi– their peak usage times. The project also looked at how small- scale renewable generators could be con- nected to the network and how small and large-scale storage, combined with an active network management (ANM) system, could aid the successful creation of a smart grid. The trial ran until 2016 and included up to 734 domestic customer properties. Lessons learnt New technologies and practices, collection of data and the development of sophisticated modelling can improve the operation and planning of established infrastructure to avoid system reinforcement. Lessons learnt Large and small-scale energy storage solu- tions, combined with a monitoring and con- trol system, can be used to manage networks more effectively as the industry transitions to a low-carbon future and a DSO model.