Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/808182
NETWORK / 23 / APRIL 2017 W ith over 30 years' service, I can probably now be considered a veteran of the energy network world. It allows me to take stock of the changes I've seen in my time working for one of the country's largest and most diverse network operators. Over this time, our industry has seen a great deal of development as we have sought to make our networks more responsive and resilient. Our sector has moved from one that was focused on engineering above all to one that understands that delivering a reliable and e• cient service for its customers should always be its driving force. I've been in a fortunate position in recent years to be working in a role that has looked at how innovation can help in this challenge, using technological advancements to drive performance improvements and inform future decisions. In my time in this role, my overriding re• ection is that the biggest change is yet to come. The energy market of today is almost unrecognisable from the market that our networks were built to support. Coal is no longer king, big power stations are being replaced, by-and-large, with low-carbon and distribution- connected generation, and the network is required to cope with increasing levels of demand-side response and energy storage. Networks must adapt to this change. That's why we support the view, put forward by BEIS and Ofgem in their recent call for evidence, that customer interests are best protected by transition from the traditional distribution network operator (DNO) model to a prominent distributed system operator (DSO) role. This transition will help meet the needs of a • exible and de-carbonised electricity system, but ensure the network remains resilient and a‡ ordable. Stewart Reid will be speaking on 'making innovation business as usual' at Utility Week Live on 24 May. Book your free tickets at utilityweeklive.co.uk We are working closely with the regulator and the wider industry to help inform the debate and to ensure we develop a system that is fair, transparent, reliable and a‡ ordable. We support a phased approach to the DSO transition under which impacts can be reviewed and the best interests of customers safeguarded. This approach has been informed and in• uenced by some innovation projects and trials, which have now reached a conclusion. The £30 million, LCNI-funded New Thames Valley Vision (NTVV) project ran for Œ ve years and trialled new technologies and practices, collected new data and developed sophisticated modelling to improve the operation and planning of networks to avoid costly system reinforcement. Along this road there have been many surprises, disappointments, revelations and eureka moments. Members of the NTVV project recently completed a series of roadshows with other network operators. Teams were guided through the Œ ndings and the use of smart analytics to conŒ dently predict where issues are likely to be experienced on electricity networks. Members of the project team also revealed the most important discoveries from their use of battery storage, automated demand response and novel customer engagement practices. We know that bringing end users on the journey with the industry will be vital. We must make sure they understand what we are doing and, as an industry, we must make sure we take their views into account. One of the events, last month, was aimed speciŒ cally at the domestic and business customers who took part in the technology trials. We wanted to show those who have been involved in the trials what they have helped us discover, and also the ways in which we can make a'di‡ erence. Another project, the Northern Isles New Energy Solutions (NINES), is also coming to a conclusion. The project took place in Shetland, where we used large and small- scale energy storage solutions, combined with a new monitoring and control system developed by our partner Smarter Grid Solutions, to deliver active network management (ANM), the Œ rst of its kind in the UK. In this case, ANM enabled a 200% increase in renewable energy contribution on Shetland by helping to manage grid constraints more e• ciently in real time. NINES also uses 1.5MW of domestic heating load to provide frequency response for the Shetland system. We know that the lessons we've learnt from both the NTVV and NINES projects can help other DNOs and the system operator innovate, and manage their networks more e‡ ectively, as we all transition to a lower carbon future and a DSO model. Findings of the projects and the all the key lessons will be available on the SSEN website. Our portfolio of innovation trials has provided us with a solid knowledge base and it is clear that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We will use the evidence and Œ ndings from our projects to help DNOs collectively transition to a DSO model that works for all network users. STEWART REID HEAD OF ASSET MANAGEMENT AND INNOVATION "It's clear that our networks must adapt to this change." I N N O VAT I N G T O WA R D S A D S O M O D E L SCOTTISH AND SOUTHERN ELECTRICIT Y NET WORKS