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NETWORK / 8 / MAY 2017 'D NOs can move so slowly that they're overtaken by other parties, or they can engage and deliver new services, making themselves invaluable to an energy community." That's the gauntlet thrown down to the established energy networks industry by John Scott, currently of Chiltern Power and formerly of Ofgem and National Grid, and the rest of the Future Power System Architecture (FPSA) leaders. It's a challenging prospect but one which, they say, could bring enormous rewards. The „ rst phase of FPSA was published last summer and contained a wide-ranging set of recommendations, and 35 proposed new functions for the power system, grouped by seven drivers . The inˆ uential project, which is being run by the Energy Systems Catapult and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, is just about to publish a follow-up report: FPSA2. Before the launch, Network asked Scott what this new world order will mean for the networks of today. Spiral of decline "FPSA is pointing the way out of the spiral of decline which in many ways is summed up by the debate that's still rumbling around about moving from DNO to DSO," argues Scott. "But that's really about, in my view, creating new added-value roles for those companies. In many ways, the physi- cal assets of those companies aren't going to change, or they will only change over many, many years; but the way in which they are used and interact with other parts of the sector and customers and things beyond the meter, that could change remarkably." FPSA1 argued that the UK power system requires a transformative change by 2030 to meet the triple challenge of security and reliability of supply, the UK government's carbon-cutting commitments, and value for money as new technologies are brought on to the grid. It said these changes must hap- pen together, in a planned and co-ordinated way and taking a whole-system approach, if they are to be e˜ ective and e™ cient. For this to happen, there must be whole- sale change to the way the power system is run: "An e˜ ective response will require new organisational and governance capabilities to establish and energise this whole-system approach necessary for transforming GB's power system architecture," the report says. This is all very well – but what does it mean for the way in which power networks go about their day-to-day business? Scott believes it requires a "mindset shiœ ", as networks grapple with many more stakeholders: "New stakeholders beyond the meter are being identi„ ed as the big parties that cause transformative change. So it will be, for example, the aggregated e˜ ect of many electric vehicles charging, or home management systems intelligently taking action. All these things – home storage, apps, peer-to-peer trading in local marketsŸ– all go on beyond the meter, but theyŸimpact on the local network and they have strong potential to impact on the national network." New way of working Key to this new way of working is data: "The smart solutions, the attractive services to customers, the new apps, things linked to smart meters and smart charging of vehicles – the one thing they have in common is data. So you can make a reasonable guess that in the future the DNOs as we know them now will need new core skills in infor- mation management, open data protocols for sharing information and structuring it, and cyber security. "Whilst many of those things are areas where the companies will buy in services and buy in good practice, they still have to be informed buyers and have a strategy for these things. That will have to be in-house, in my view." Data poses an opportunity as well as a challenge. Scott believes that by facilitat- ing this new data exchange "from many to many", DNOs can become information platforms that "manage, structure and share [information] with legitimate parties who may well not be the control centre but a smart charging company, or the app the electric vehicle driver has. It's a completely di˜ erent world." A different world A di˜ erent world requires a di˜ erent policy and regulatory framework, particularly for regulated monopolies such as networks. While FPSA is addressing the policy frame- work, similar work will have to be done on the regulatory environment. RIIO-ED2 will still be in place when the 2030 horizon is reached, and Scott asks: "How can whole system thinking be done sensibly if the transmission price controls and the distribu- tion price controls aren't done in a co-or- dinated way, if they're done sequentially?" He adds: "The need to take this forward is the need for Ofgem to understand and think through what FPSA2 has to say about ED2 and ET2." FPSA2 itself is due to be published aœ er the general election. Scott outlines the headlines: "FPSA2 will validate and struc- ture more clearly the 35 new functions for the sector, and those functions are techni- cal, commercial and regulatory. They are all functions, not just engineering functions, because they all link together. "FPSA2 has undertaken an analysis of the barriers to implementing those func- tions which will be very helpful to have as evidence for supporting change and takingŸa serious look at what's needed. FPSA2Ÿis going to outline a new approach toŸsector change." Other insights into FPSA2 come from a number of other project leaders – see box opposite. And Scott has some closing words: "Watch this space for FPSA2. Open minds will be needed. It's not about tweaking the edges of the current arrangements. It's about an opportunity to migrate to a fully modernised approach – which I think will be fresh air to all the parties who want to move forward." N FUTURE POWER SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE "DNOs can move so slowly that they're overtaken by other parties, or they can engage and deliver new services, making themselves invaluable to an energy community." JOHN SCOTT, CHILTERN POWER AND FPSA LEADER