Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/912901
NETWORK / 30 / DECEMBER 2017 / JANUARY 2018 INNOVATION W ith networks preparing to meet the demands of a flexible power system, how energy is stored and delivered is something that will continue to evolve. That was one of the messages that came out of this year's in - augural Flexible Networks event which was sponsored by ABB. The importance of keeping up with technology and the general pace of innovation was another theme that ran through a num - ber of presentations delivered at the conference. The event featured four key themes: Creating a smart flex - ible energy system; How storage is transforming the network; Unlocking value in DSR; and the future of networks: what next? Dr Rachel Cooper, head of smart energy at the Department for Business, Energy and Indus- trial Strategy (BEIS), opened proceedings with a presentation entitled 'The smart systems consultation: what does it mean Keeping flexible The Flexible Networks Conference took place in Birmingham last month. Alec Peachey reports. for networks?' Dr Cooper told delegates that the energy system is undergo- ing fundamental change with increased interaction. Later, she outlined details of the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan which sets out a comprehensive set of 29 actions to support smart energy. According to Cooper, innova - tion underpins each element of the plan with BEIS offering up to £70 million of funding to support innovation in storage and other smart technologies up to 2021. She said: "We're going to need smarter networks to be able to deliver clean, secure and affordable energy." Under the theme 'How storage is transforming the network', Chris Clarke, director of asset management at Wales & West Utilities, talked about using the gas network for large- scale, flexible storage. He said: "We deploy 58GWh of storage a day, and we own and operate that storage, unlike perhaps the future for electric - ity. That's the equivalent of six million Tesla Power Walls. The gas system has got the storage equivalent of 210TWh." Clarke told delegates that the company has around 2,000 micro power stations on its network, connecting gas and electricity networks together at a distribution level. "We're seeing the network change rapidly along with the growth of renewables both on the gas grid and the electricity grid," he stated. With an increase in demand on the electricity networks through the uptake of electric vehicles, Clarke said that gas networks are also playing a vital role. "Where electric vehicles are being plugged into the elec - tricity network, there will be certain times of the day or year when the demand for power is actually coming from the gas networks," he continued. "We're starting to do some work to understand what the impact on gas networks will be from electric vehicles." Later, Clarke outlined details of the company's FREEDOM project which is a large-scale demonstration trial of smart hybrid heating systems to understand the benefits of transitioning UK domestic heat into a demand side response market. FREEDOM is a £5.2m innovation project involving the installation of 75 hybrid heating systems in residential properties in Bridgend, south Wales. Steve Cox, engineering and technical director at Electric - ity North West, discussed the rollout of the company's CLASS project, which could open the door for every distribution net - work operator (DNO) in Britain to unlock 3GW of demand flex- ibility. Describing CLASS as "game changing", Cox shared with delegates how the technique is allowing the network to provide flexibility benefits to National Grid, via a link between the system operator and the DNO's network management system. Nick Easton, power system engineer for National Grid, concluded the event with a presentation entitled 'Working towards 2030.' He described how 2017 had been a landmark year for the en - ergy industry. These landmarks included: On 25/26 March, transmission demand was lower during the day than over night; On 21 April, there was the first 24 hour operation without coal; On 26 May, 8.9GW of energy was powered via solar; On 7 June, 50 per cent of generation came from renewable energy. As part of his presentation, Easton set out a challenge to the sector: "The future is now. Our challenge is to ensure that as an industry we arrive at a mature set of processes to allow us to reach that goal. The goal has got to be that we're able to take greatest advantage and benefit from all the diverse and new technologies that are connected to the distribution system and transmission system and squeeze out the value of those, Figure 1