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NETWORK / 29 / FEBRUARY 2018 It is anticipated that this project could enable potential customer savings in excess of £200m by 2050 and reduce carbon emis - sions by over 3m tonnes. FUSION will receive £5.3m funding. Unsurprisingly, Taylor is de- lighted to have secured the fund- ing for both projects, but admits that it was a tough process. "We're really pleased with the funding. When you look at en - ergy challenges, networks are at the heart of meeting these chal- lenges and innovation is more important than ever before. "It's not just about technol- ogy, it's about commercial innovation as well. Doing things differently and engaging with people. "The NIC process is quite a challenging process. The panel were very direct with all of us in terms of their expectations on collaboration. I personally welcome that, but they were very direct and straightforward in terms of their expectations." Developing the smart grid On the subject of the LV Engine project, Taylor remarked that the demand for power for electric vehicles and other low carbon technologies like heat pumps for homes, has led to a pressing need for the UK to develop a smart grid fit for the 21st Century. "If you take electric vehicles as an example they'll be a lot of charging points connected throughout the LV system and the flexibility that this technol - ogy can give us will help. But also for high capacity chargers we can provide a direct connec- tion from one of these transform- ers. "I think they (EVs) will have a significant impact, both in terms of electrical demand and cost on the system. "We're at a stage now where we were with renewables around 15 years ago – whether that be wind or PV. There's huge poten - tial impact. There are two things that drive us. First of all there's mitigating costs and making sure we're not a barrier to these sort of things. The technology, market and behaviours will miti- gate that. "I think we've shown with re- newables that if there's a drive to do something, or you put innova- tion funding in, then network companies really step up and we can do it." Talking about FUSION, Jim McOmish, SP Energy Networks head of distribution networks, said: "At the moment there is no open accessible transpar - ent market to buy and sell this flexibility, and the challenge is building one which unlocks that value for everybody - electric - ity providers on one side and consumers on the other." Taylor added: "For us it's a flexibility piece. It's about mov - ing away from building more assets or putting copper in the ground and having an inclusive energy market. "If you look at how balanc - ing costs are increasing across the system, part of the solution is not just having a top down approach to balancing, but also the local bottom up approach to balancing. As well as providing opportunities for customers and businesses to fully engage in the energy market, we also believe that it's the most efficient means of balancing the system." The company is working with Fife Council on the project and Taylor says there is already in - terest from the local community. "In my opinion from an Other NIC projects awarded funding Ofgem announced in November 2017 that it was providing up to £57.5m to seven projects under the Network Innovation Competition funding. The five other projects are: l Examining whether gas networks in Great Britain can safely transport gas that is 100% hydrogen (Northern Gas Networks). l Using advanced robotics to cut costs and lower the environmental impact of carrying out street works (SGN). l Using automation technol- ogy to squeeze more capac- ity out of local electricity networks so that more con- sumers can be connected without expensive grid reinforcement (UK Power Networks). l Developing new ways of sup- porting flexibility markets forecasting of when flexibility services are needed on local electricity networks (West- ern Power Distribution). l Developing and trialling markets for the provision of flexibility services on elec- tricity distribution networks (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks). Illustration of LV Engine economic and security of supply perspective, we have an inter- connected grid and we want to maintain and preserve that. But balancing the system and having flexibility in market at a local level is the future." The last word goes to Frank Mitchell, CEO of SP Energy Networks, who said: "These pro - jects will enable customers to be fully engaged in the electric- ity market, creating additional income through local generation and storage, whilst unlocking additional network capacity to make a nationwide network of electric vehicles a reality." Both LV Engine and FUSION are five-year trial projects.