Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JANUARY 2018 | 27 Operations & Assets emissions and release at least 500MW of net- work capacity." Fusion, SP Energy Networks up to £5.3 million SP Energy Networks (SPEN) has been granted up to £5.3 million to test a local flexibility market in East Fife in Scotland. The project will trial the application of an existing market model developed in Europe known as the Universal Smart Energy Frame- work. SPEN will provide £0.6 million of addi- tional funding. The aims of the trial include establish- ing a blueprint for local flexibility markets, which other DNOs can adopt, and develop- ing standard procurement procedures within the existing regulatory and market frame- work. If replicated across Great Britain the model is expected to save consumers £236 million by 2050 through avoided network reinforcement. SPEN director of processes and technol- ogy Colin Taylor says the project will "put customers at the heart of our ambitious future energy system. "By enabling a flexible network, SP Energy Networks is able to empower custom- ers while increasing network efficiency and value, delivering a key element of our distri- bution system operator vision." The project will bring together numerous partners – Fife Council, the University of St Andrews, Bright Green Hydrogen, SAC Con- sulting, Imperial College London, DNV GL, Origami Energy and Passiv Systems. Passiv Systems will work on the delivery of demand-side response within the market. The firm's chief executive, Colin Calder, com- ments: "We are on a mission to make energy systems more efficient for our business part- ners and their customers. "Our participation in fusion reinforces our aims and demonstrates the credibility of our technology platforms. We are look- ing forward to working with our partners to deliver the foundation for tomorrow's energy networks." Electricity Flexibility and Forecasting System, Western Power Distribution up to £2.9 million Western Power Distribution (WPD) will receive up to £2.9 million of NIC funding to build and test a soware platform for fore- casting the need for, and sources of, flexibil- ity on distribution networks. The project will include work to establish how best to co-ordinate the procurement of flexibility by DNOs and the national sys- tem operator, National Grid, to prevent the actions of one party negating the actions of another. WPD will contribute £0.4 million to the trial, while project partners including National Grid and soware developer AMT- Sybex will add £1 million. The project is also being supported by UK Power Networks (UKPN) and Centrica, which has been trial- ling a local energy market in Cornwall. Ofgem has ordered the networks propos- ing the Electricity Flexibility and Forecasting System, Fusion and Transition projects to work together to identify any areas of unnec- essary duplication. The removal of overlaps could affect the exact level of funding they receive. Active Response, UK Power Networks £13.8 million UKPN has been allotted £13.8 million to trial the use of advanced automation and inno- vative electronic equipment to move spare capacity around the grid to meet ever-shi- ing demand from electric vehicles. Up to 1.9 million electric vehicles are expected to be on the road across UKPN's licence areas in London, the East and the South East by 2030. The Active Response project will allow spare capacity to be trans- ferred to where people are charging their vehicles at different times – residential areas during evening and weekends, and city cen- tres, commercial hubs and fleet-charging points during the day. Advanced automation will enable in- creased "meshing", whereby loads are shared across multiple circuits. An optimisation algorithm will be applied to detailed models of low and high-voltage networks – including real-time informa- tion on load profiles – to determine the best arrangement at any given moment. The net- works will be automatically reconfigured using remote-control switches, and monitor- ing equipment will be installed to provide visibility and measure performance. In instances where meshing is other- wise impossible because of particular net- work characteristics, innovative electronic equipment, as yet unproven on distribution networks, will be used to share capacity between different parts of the grid. Low-voltage substations will be con- nected using the second generation of "so open points", which UKPN originally devel- oped as part of the Flexible Urban Networks project, while high-voltage primary substa- tions will be linked up using completely new "so power bridges". The company says the project will avoid the need for additional network reinforce- ment to accommodate electric vehicles, sav- ing consumers up to £271 million by 2030 if replicated across the country. "A low-carbon transport revolution is coming, and UKPN wants to make sure elec- tric vehicle users can charge when and where they want at the lowest possible cost," says the firm's head of innovation, Ian Cameron. "Active Response is one of our key projects to enable this, by allowing us to research how we can move any spare capacity around the network to where it is needed." UKPN has partnered with SP Energy Net- works to ensure that, if proven, the solution can be quickly rolled out to other networks. SP Energy Networks future networks man- ager, James Yu, says: "SP Energy Networks is delighted to be part of Active Response. The new technologies to be trialled in the project will be the engineering enabler for a low- carbon economy. The benefits of innovation will be maximised by working closely in a collaborative manner." The total value of the project is £18.2 million, of which UKPN will contribute £3.1 million. The project partners, which also include Turbo Power Systems, Ricardo and CGI, will provide £1.3 million. LV Engine, SP Energy Networks £7.3 million SPEN has been awarded £7.3 million, to which it will add £0.8 million, to develop and test a new type of intelligent solid- state transformer in low-voltage secondary substations. The touted benefits of the new devices include the ability to provide enhanced voltage regulation, load-sharing with neigh- bouring substations and direct current con- nections for low-voltage customers. They will also be modular by design, meaning they can be uprated by adding "capacity blocks" rather than having to replace the whole unit. These advantages will help networks to cost-effectively meet growing and uncertain demand from low-carbon technologies such as electric vehicles, distributed renewable generation and heat pumps. SPEN says the technology could poten- tially be deployed at more than 36,000 sites across Great Britain, saving network consum- ers £528 million by 2050. The company has partnered with UKPN to ensure the devices can be easily adopted by other DNOs. UKPN has won £13.8 million to trial the use of automation and electronics to help accommodate EVs on the grid

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