Gas
Getting green networks up to speed
Decarbonising heat will involve a future switch to hydrogen, but how should that hydrogen be produced? And as consumers and businesses adopt EVs and take to the roads, are the network operators fully prepared? Tom Grimwood reports on the topics that topped the agenda at this year's Network Asset Performance Conference in Birmingham
Gas
ESC launches modelling tool for 2050 scenario planning
The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) has launched a new software modelling tool that can weigh up different scenarios on how national, regional and local energy networks in the UK can use storage and flexibility technologies to decarbonise at least cost.
Heat
The road to a low carbon future
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks' (SSEN) EV readiness manager, Richard Hartshorn, discusses the distribution network operator's role in the transition to a low carbon world for drivers, tourists and consumers.
Gas
Getting the power back on
National Grid ESO is aiming for a world first - coordinating multipe distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide a safe Black Start service in its Distributed ReStart project. Alec Peachey spoke to project lead Peter Chandler.
Gas
An alternative route to Black Start
Electricity interconnectors are increasingly adding flexibility to the high voltage network in Great Britain. But can their convertor capacity also offer a Black Start service to the grid? Oluwole Daniel Adeuyi and colleagues at the National HVDC Centre, operated by Scottish Hydro Electricity, discuss its recent scenario planning around an interconnector Black Start.
Heat
Humber plan for 2040 zero carbon cluster centres on Drax
Plans to develop a zero carbon "industrial cluster" in the Humber region based on a hydrogen production facility at Yorkshire's Drax plant plus carbon capture and storage (CCUS) under the North Sea have been outlined in a new report by the Zero Carbon Humber partnership.
Power
ENW adds network capacity ahead of net-zero 2038 commitment
Electricity North West has announced the start of work to add capacity to the power network in south Manchester in support of the £7m South Manchester Enterprise Zone project.
Power
EDF buys storage-to-charging challenger Pivot Power
EDF Group has announced a deal to acquire Pivot Power, the UK battery storage start-up with a programme to develop 40 sites of 50MW storage capacity, each combined with rapid charging services for the road transport network.
Gas
Hydrogen boilers, CCUS and biogas critical to net-zero heat, says ENA report
The government should mandate "hydrogen ready" boilers for new installations in domestic properties as part of a radical strategy to deliver a zero carbon heat network by 2050, concludes a major new report outlining a viable pathway for decarbonised heat in the UK.
Power
£15m Cairngorms undergrounding project seeks public votes
Residents and businesses living close to the Cairngorms National Park in north east Scotland are being invited to a public information event by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) to find out more about undergrounding power lines in the park.
Power
Council scales up battery storage site to reap income rewards
A battery energy storage site operated by South Somerset District Council (SSDC) is set to expand to its maximum capacity by developing another 5MW to help produce and store more clean and renewable energy, providing support to the National Grid.
Gas
Grenfell report praises Cadent operation to seal gas mains
"Clarity of planning and careful execution" allowed Cadent gas engineers to cut off three gas mains near to Grenfell Tower at the height of the emergency, helping to bring the fire under control after gas sustained the fire in its later phases, the official inquiry has found.
Gas
Net-zero will need a regulation review, contractor warns
New thinking on energy regulation that better supports network investment will be required if the UK is going to meet its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to Burns and McDonnell, a US based engineering and construction business operating in the UK since 2017.
Gas
Wales and West signs up to Welsh ‘net-zero ready’ 2035 target
Wales and West Utilities, the gas distribution network operator for Wales, has become the first company to sign up to the Welsh government's Climate Change Pledge, committing itself to having a "net-zero ready" gas network by 2035.
Power
Utility Week Cyber Security & Resilience Conference
Building on its successful launch in 2019, the 2020 Utility Week Cyber Security and Resilience Conference equips IS, risk, resilience, security and OT leaders with the insight to prepare and protect infrastructure, services and customers from growing cyber threats.
Power
Northern Powergrid calls on Ofgem to set out clear DSO ground rules
Northern Powergrid is urging Ofgem to provide more clarity on the underlying ground rules for network operators as they make the shift into new types of business operations as Distribution System Operators (DSOs).
Gas
EIC and Cadent seek bright ideas for dementia sufferers
The Energy Innovation Centre (EIC) is teaming up with gas network Cadent and the Alzheimer's Society to host a workshop around new innovations in the utilities sector to improve the quality of life and safety of people living with dementia in the UK.
Gas
‘Liquid air’ battery tech firm scales up to 50MW plant
Highview Power, the company promoting "liquid air" as a storage medium for surplus electrical energy, last week announced plans to construct the first commercial scale battery facility using the technology, at a decommissioned thermal power station in the north of England.
Heat
Dealing with a digitalised grid if the internet breaks down
What might happen to a digitalised grid if the internet breaks down? Phil Lawton, power systems practice manager at the Energy Systems Catapult, asks and answers a difficult question
Power
RIIO-ED2: a unique opportunity for change?
Christopher Watts, director for regulatory affairs at S&C Electric Company, discusses RIIO-ED2 and how the role of networks is changing.
Power
Moixa and Energia in bid to build ‘virtual power plant’ in Irish homes
Battery manufacturer Moixa has announced a tie-up with Irish energy supplier Energia to run trials on how integrated smart home batteries, rooftop solar and electric vehicles (EVs) can deliver flexibility to the grid.
Gas
Safeguarding staff from mental health hazards at work
Promoting physical safety has become critically important across the sector, with many organisations priding themselves on a zero-tolerance approach to hazards in the workplace, writes Nadine Buddoo.
Gas
Hydrogen to fuel north west homes and businesses by 2024
The north west is ready to blend hydrogen into the gas grid and pipe it into homes and businesses as early as 2024, according to a 17 October briefing by HyNet, a consortium geared to delivering hydrogen from natural gas.
Power
DNOs avoid penalties in Ofgem’s 2018/19 ICE connection review
Ofgem has given Distribution Network Operators a pass mark for their record on dealing with large-scale customer connections, with a decision not to levy penalties for 2018/19 under its Incentive on Connections Engagement (ICE) mechanism.
Heat
Eden Project wins £16.8m to drill for geothermal heat
Cornwall Council has committed nearly £10m of its remaining EU grant funding to coax a project to supply deep geothermal heat and power to the Eden Project visitor attraction and education centre over the starting line.
Power
Give EV drivers “right to roam” across networks, APPG chair urges
The MP chairing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Electric Vehicles has written an open letter to three major vehicle charging networks calling on them to adopt full roaming interoperability - and emphasising that government might force action if they fail to take the initiative.
Power
Rolling out the Pollywood pole
Quentin Kopp, chairman of Pollywood, discusses a new way to make electricity poles using 85% less wood.
Gas
H21 project highlights potential of hydrogen
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said that hydrogen is a credible option to help decarbonise the UK energy system. Network editor Alec Peachey examines the progress being made and some of the challenges that remain.
Power
Northern Powergrid trial charges up electric vans to replace emergency generators
Northern Powergrid is running a trial to use electric vans with on-board battery storage to replace diesel generators as a more sustainable means of restoring power to consumers during emergency works or power cuts.
Gas
Clean energy overtakes fossil fuel power in Q3
Electricity produced from wind, solar, biomass or hydro power exceeded electricity generated from fossil fuel sources in the third quarter of 2019, according to an analysis of government and industry data by climate change website Carbon Brief.
Gas
How materials science will underpin the future energy network
What are the materials that will serve as the backbone for electrical energy storage, renewable energy generation, gas and the grid itself in the future, and how might they underpin the future of the energy network? Four academics from Newcastle University and Durham University discuss the role of materials science in developing new network capacity.