Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/917367
www.wwtonline.co.uk | JANUARY 2018 | 11 "It's important to understand the whole process to know what you can and can't do; that means having the right people in place." Bob Stear, head of innovation, Severn Trent THE SPEAKERS "I can see us going straight to battery and skipping diesel generation, but we will need to find one to meet our resilience requirements." Julie McKinney, energy strategy, policy and regulation specialist, Scottish Water "The business case at first for demand-side response was to make money out of existing assets. But the financial side is just the tip of the iceberg; there are more opportunities to unlock." Robert Wild, demand side response manager, Severn Trent "We have only dabbled in DSR so far. At Bournemouth Water we used an aggregator because of the size of the portfolio we run." David Rose, energy and carbon manager, South West Water Key points 1. Involvement in demand-side response not only brings an income stream to water companies, but can also help with operational resilience and with garnering operational data on energy use to open up future savings. 2. Barriers to be overcome in implementing it include metering requirements, grid capabilities and cultural resistance within the organisation. 3. Water companies are currently concentrating on larger sites for DSR, but they would like to see further technological advancements to help encompass smaller sites. a lack of grid connection in rural areas, risks with contract lengths and potential political risks, IT security, as well as limited resources and site sizes. Cultural challenges were highlighted: some people within operational teams could be "sticklers" for how something has always been done, it was noted. Many liked the idea of the savings to be had through DSR but had concerns about "messing around" with their current processes. However, being able to determine pre-set limits for the energy fluctuation of various assets has given peace of mind to several water companies on this point. Others said that involvement in DSR schemes had helped their broader energy policy by building a relationship with the network operator. One key theme which came up was the importance of understanding and the fear of the unknown. As with anything new, DSR can be a daunting prospect until you have sufficient understanding of how it works. Participants questioned whether the benefits of DSR would be limited to larger operational sites. Companies admitted the smaller sites are being "le‡ to last" as larger sites offered more immediate profitability; those with many small sites expressed concern about there being a lack of suitable products suitable to meet their needs. One participant suggested that an aggregator for smaller sites could be the solution. Getting small sites engaged in DSR was seen as important to realise the full potential of DSR in the sector: there are not many industries which cover the whole of the UK and so the water industry is in a good position to take advantage. Steven Clarke, global product development, demand side response at Centrica, said that technology is advancing quickly in this area and that water companies could gain considerably - and not just in financial terms - by getting on board. "The revenue is certainly interesting for companies, and it's mainly why people do it. But the next stage is the data and the insights you can get from it," said Clarke. "So o‡en you don't know what you don't know. It's not until you shine a light on the energy that you are using across your business that you can realise the benefits."