Water & Wastewater Treatment

Hot topics While RIIO2 is s ll as much as six years away for electricity networks, it is already clear the regulatory regime will need to change significantly in the years ahead to accommodate the changing role of networks. This will be explored at U lity Week Live in the Network Theatre on the morning of 23 May. Experts and key figures from the sector will debate the future direc on of networks and open the debate on how they can and should be regulated as we prepare for the next decade. The first itera on of RIIO was something of a revolu on for the sector. It replaced the RPI-X regime which drove efficiency savings. It was designed to encourage investment, but prevent costs soaring by se ng the framework to financially punish inefficient companies that fail to deliver for consumers. It also aims to boost innova on by offering incen ves focused on delivering results, and expanding the £500 million Low Carbon Network Fund to encourage the growth of smart grids. The Low Carbon Networks Fund and its successors have delivered revolu onary results. Now, a en on has turned to the future of innova on funding and its place in RIIO-ED2 is already up for discussion. Storage is a gamechanger. At both grid and distribu on level, it has the poten al to solve many of the challenges posed by intermi ent renewable genera on, while avoiding the need for costly reinforcement of the network. It also has a part to play in the rollout of electric vehicles and electrified heat, which will place greater demand than ever before on the UK's power infrastructure. The technology, which has been voted by the industry as one of the top ten transforma ve technologies in the u lity space, offers a range of benefits and solu ons to networks, such as being able to soak up and store electricity at mes of high supply from renewables, and shave off the peak demand levels by releasing the energy back into the grid. However, there are numerous barriers to its wider deployment, including the regulatory landscape, the ban on networks owning storage, and the rela vely high cost of the technology. The poten al of storage and solu ons to the barriers it faces will be discussed on the Network Theatre at U lity Week Live on 23 May at 12:45 and will feature contribu ons from UK Power Networks, Ofgem, and Moxia. What do we need from RIIO2? The storage revolu on Book your free ckets today www.u lityweeklive.co.uk | 11

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