Remember Hoover and Electrolux? Maybe you are too young, but for those with greying hair these were brands synonymous with vacuum cleaners that had a vice like grip on the market for decades. Hoover even became the verb to do the hoovering!
Has a tipping point been reached in the smart utility era? Read More »
King Canute could not turn back the tides; he acknowledged his powers were limited. Similarly, UK politicians must recognise that our geographic location, climate and weather patterns are major determinants of future energy policy and that they can try but will fail to alter them. The energy trilemma, a phrase that rightly suggests the difficulty in balancing the competing demands of affordability, reliability and sustainability, should be set against the UK’s particular energy needs.
Green gasses will help solve the energy trilemma Read More »
Mention the term microgrid, and most people tend to think of providing access to power on remote islands or in poorly served regions in developing markets. But recent developments are highlighting a big potential role for microgrids in mature power markets, including the UK, where it’s becoming clear that new ways of thinking about power supply capacity, stability and resilience are needed.
Grasp the UK microgrid opportunity Read More »
Disruption to travel, no access to money, problems with telecommunications and petrol pumps rendered out of service – these are just some of the issues that would be faced by the public in the event of a blackout. “Catastrophic” is the word used by Peter Chandler (pictured below), project lead for the Distributed ReStart project at National Grid ESO, to describe the extent of the problems caused in this situation. Nor would the effects be over in a hurry, with Chandler indicating that restoring full power across the whole country could take up to a week in a “Black Start” scenario.
Getting the power back on Read More »
While attention has been focused on the review of the innovation mechanism, network companies have continued quietly to vie for the funds up for grabs every year. In early December, Ofgem revealed the six successful projects from this year’s Network innovation Competition (NIC). Projects that will shape the future of the sector. It also identified projects that were found wanting.
Given the green light: electricity Read More »
While attention has been focused on the review of the innovation mechanism, network companies have continued quietly to vie for the funds up for grabs every year. In early December, Ofgem revealed the six successful projects from this year’s Network innovation Competition (NIC). Projects that will shape the future of the sector. It also identified projects that were found wanting.
Given the green light: gas Read More »
The energy supply mix in the UK has steadily changed over the last decade and the ever evolving decentralised landscape is presenting new challenges for network operators. With consumption patterns anticipated to significantly change in response to the electrification of heat and transport, combining key industry drivers and initiatives with digitalisation will play an important role within this sector.
Going digital: the hidden wealth of grids Read More »
In 2015 we embarked on a project with a 2030 horizon, focussing on the transformation of the GB electricity system to enable the country to respond to the challenges of decarbonisation. By we, I mean the Energy Systems Catapult (for whom I work), and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET); but we were not alone. Yes, we led, managed and supported the project but we didn’t do this in isolation; there was a broad range of organisations from across the power sector involved, in this example of genuinely collaborative working.
Getting ready to transform the power system Read More »
Distribution network operators (DNOs) could meet the challenges of decarbonisation under the current model, one speaker explained. But doing so would be “horrendously expensive”, requiring huge investments in new capacity to meet peaks in demand.
Getting regulation right Read More »
One of the main subjects for debate was the governance and regulation of the energy system. Energy Systems Catapult head of innovation Eric Brown (pictured) kicked off the discussion by laying out the scale of the challenge: “Broadly speaking, we’ve inherited the current world from the 1980s when the current frameworks were put in place. And those frameworks were based on the nature of the system and business models as they existed at the time.”
Getting regulation right Read More »
