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NETWORK / 26 / JUNE 2018 S otiris Georgiopoulos glances proudly around the dozen or so faces crammed into a meet- ing room on a warm day at UK Power Networks' Southwark headquarters. They represent most, if not quite all, his smart grid development team, which was formed two years ago to drive innovation in how the distribution network operator tackles the challenges of a rapidly evolving electricity landscape. Georgiopoulos stresses the different professional backgrounds this elite force has been assembled from, introducing them as coming from various roles including commercial, regulatory and customer-facing jobs. One, he jokes, is "a hacker really". "Many of them are not traditional power systems engineers," he concludes. "There are a lot of people coding, there is a range of skills. Everyone is project managing and change managing. We are innovative and creative as well; there is an entrepreneurial aspect of what we do." Georgiopoulos joined EDF as a graduate engineer in 2005, becoming project manager for EDF Energy Networks' infrastructure delivery work ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. In 2010, two things happened. The coali - Preparing for a smart future Greg Pitcher speaks to UK Power Networks smart grid development team to find out more about the company's transition to a smart grid. tion government came to power and began to kickstart creation of renewable energy. And EDF Energy Networks was bought by CK Group and renamed UK Power Networks. One of the first major projects UK Power Networks undertook was titled Flexible Plug and Play. This sought to connect small-scale renewable sources of electricity on to con - strained parts of the electricity distribution network without the need for conventional infrastructure reinforcement. "Flexible Plug and Play was the first programme in mainland UK that used smart algorithms and smart contracts to connect more renewables to the grid for less," says Georgiopoulos. "Customers might come along and we no longer need to build a new pipe for them; we can put a satellite dish on their location, give them a smart contract and they can join on an existing pipe." UK Power Networks was also awarded £13.2 million from an Ofgem fund for its Smarter Network Storage scheme. The four- year scheme included a range of commercial and technical innovations to try to improve the economics of flexible electricity storage. "This is a big warehouse in Leighton Buzzard filled with lithium-ion cells that allow energy to be stored and released back to the grid," says Georgiopoulos. "It was the first demonstrator of this technology in the UK, and a lot of the current market and policy came from the findings of that scheme. We use it to support the grid in case of a fault. It is an alternative to build - ing another overhead line." Forming a team The way energy was produced and con- sumed was changing at pace and methods of adapting to this were springing up all over the place. UK Power Networks decided it needed to change the way it brought these new ideas to market. "In 2015 I spent a year trying to roll out some successful innovation and it quickly became apparent that you need a critical mass of people to drive that into the busi- ness," says Georgiopoulos. "The market is transitioning to a more dynamic state and we needed a centre of excellence to help the rest of the business adapt." Hence the formation of the smart grid development team, which has soared from an initial membership of two to having a headcount of more than 20 just two years later. "One of our principles is we are not just a facilitating team, we need some hutzpah. We are moving from a fixed static world to a more dynamic world, and we own the strategy for that. "The goal of the team is to make sure UK Power Networks can design and operate networks fit for purpose in the new world. One of our aspirations is to be the leading innovator in terms of the ideas and taking the benefits from them. We have to keep pushing forward." Lead power system development engineer Matt White joined the smart grid development team from the network plan - ning side of the business that he is o›en now responsible for influencing. "Bringing the tools from the infrastruc- ture planning teams allows you to bridge the gap between innovation projects and rolling things out as business as usual," he says. "In my previous role I found myself getting increasingly involved in this work but it was a side project to usual business." Coming into the smart grid team has allowed him and his colleagues to use knowledge and contacts from previous roles with the time and support to focus solely on innovation. "A lot of the relationships with other parts of the business are already there be - cause of where we've come from. So push- ing innovation through is accepted better. They know that if you say something could work, it could work." INNOVATION