Utility Week

18 | 1ST - 7TH JUNE 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Case study: The Freedom Project What is it? The Freedom Project is a large-scale demon- stration trial of smart hybrid heating systems devised to understand the benefits of transi- tioning UK domestic heat into a demand-side response market. The programme started in October 2016 with the process of procuring heat pumps for the four pilot installations taking place between October and December 2016. It has now completed 17 months of a 27-month project programme. Who is involved? The initiative was instigated by Wales & West Utilities and Western Power Distribution. Alongside the two main funding parties, the other main contributor and part-funder within the tripartite contract is Passiv Systems. The sub-partners are: Imperial College, City University and Delta Energy & Environment (Delta-EE). What was the problem? The project partners said allowing a heating system to switch between gas and electric load provides greater customer value, a route towards decarbonisation, and complete flex- ibility on the electrical load for demand-side management. However, no existing hybrid heat pumps are controlled in a fully optimised way that balances the needs of the consumer and the energy networks. What are the aims? To simulate a dense commercial rollout of hybrid heating systems in a demand-side response market to understand: • Technologies and how they work in a smart hybridised environment; • Commercial drivers for heat service provision; • Impacts to the increasingly integrated energy system; • Consumer interaction and behaviour with outsourced heating control. How much does it cost? Freedom is a £5.2 million innovation project involving the installation of 75 hybrid heating systems in residential properties in Bridgend, south Wales, in 2017. A January 2018 update Initial survey results show that overall aware- ness of flexibility and demand response was higher than expected. According to WPD, 50 per cent of people said they had good knowledge of it. Network Theatre Transport is changing The age of the EV is now seen as inevitable, but with actual take-up still low, there is a lot of debate about the timing, and what networks should be doing to prepare. T here is no bigger disruption than the changes we are seeing in our transport system – the way we use it and the way we move around. This was the clear message from Utility Week Live 2018's Network Theatre session on "The role of transport in the energy system". Chaired by Luke Redfern of Cenex, it considered the outlook for low-carbon trans- port, where industry is going, key policy drivers and consumers. With poor air quality responsible for 40,000 UK deaths a year, and transport operations increasingly adding to pollution, he said industry was listening. Almost every major manufacturer is bringing low-emission vehicles to market. A "remarkable surge" had seen UK sales rise 40 per cent annually, up from 3,500 in 2013 to 121,000 plug-in vehicles by October 2017. Mike Potter, managing director of Drive Electric, has seen increasing numbers of people make the journey to electric vehicles (EVs). He said people were starting to look at energy systems very differently. Battery cars account for 72 per cent of its sales per month, with 90 per cent of own- ers charging overnight at home and many households looking at energy storage. cent of the network, particularly if people start to adopt this technology in clusters." Mike Foster, chief executive of Energy Utilities Alliance, said while some sec- tors had made real strides on emissions, transport had not performed at all on 1990 environmental targets. Despite vehicles becoming more efficient, more traffic – including light-duty vehicles delivering online purchases – had created "a standstill situation". Meanwhile, the economic cost associated with air pollution was now £54 billion a year. The answer, he said, was biomethane for "the big stuff ": HGVs, buses and coaches. It could bring greenhouse gas emissions down by 84 per cent and also offered a cheaper option for fleet operators. However, a lack of joined-up policy between Whitehall departments, including the Treasury, was causing unintended conse- quences, he feared. Laura Morris, of National Grid Ventures, said everyone agreed more EVs were coming and would have a real impact, with an accel- eration due in the next five to ten years. "Over the next 12 years we are looking for around 100-times the investment that's gone into [behind the meter] charging infrastruc- ture to date to enable EVs." Long term, we will need seamless, inte- grated solutions to meet consumer needs about EVs and the charging infrastructure necessary. "Different industry participants in the value chain will need to collaborate. There's a real piece around infrastructure and cus- tomer services coming together, to under- Brought to you in association with And instead of affordability being the tipping point, he has found range anxiety to still be the number one issue for consumers. Larger 250-mile battery cars will be game- changers. "These are going to change things in the same way as iPhones. We believe that's in the next two years. Our belief is that by 2027, half the vehicles registered in the UK will be battery cars. "They will be cheaper to purchase – once battery costs come down – and so, much cheaper to run – your costs go from £100 in fuel to £15 in electricity." And there will be a major impact on the sector, including networks, he said. "It wouldn't take a lot of cars. An increase of about 10 per cent could affect up to 20 per The concept electric Mini

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