Features
Heat
Electric storage heating – a Cinderella solution
Why has electric storage heating been overlooked as we seek to tackle decarbonising domestic heat?
Power
The future for vegetation management
Why networks should focus on data not trees to overcome the costly challenges involved in vegetation management
Power
An unprecedented opportunity for change
Why short interruptions will matter in RIIO-ED2 and how to address them.
Power
Time for less talk and more action on decarbonisation
Core "oven-ready" solutions to decarbonising heat and transport exist today and should be implemented without delay, says WPD's future power networks expert.
Gas
From the front line: Chris Garside and Andy Simcoe, Northern Gas Networks
Key workers across the power and gas networks are playing a critical role in the national response to Coronavirus. Network has committed to profiling their stories.
Gas
From the front line: Jamie Sainsbury, SSEN
Key workers across the power and gas networks are playing a critical role in the national response to Coronavirus. Network has committed to profiling their stories.
Gas
How is coronavirus affecting the networks’ at an operational level?
We spoke to ENA members about how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting the networks' at an operational level
Gas
Will digital twins be the answer to maximising data?
Elaine Knutt looks at the Centre for Digital Built Britain’s National Digital Twins Programme.
Gas
Keele University: paving the way for intelligent energy grid research
Keele University is Europe’s model for intelligent energy grid research, developing new models for localised sustainable energy
Gas
Distributed ReStart project: live trials
In a pre-corona world, Network spoke to Peter Chandler, project lead for the ground-breaking Distributed ReStart project about the challenges it will face as it embarks on live trials this summer
Power
The pride of Oxfordshire: Project LEO
Project LEO is one of the most wide-ranging and holistic smart grid trials ever conducted in the UK.
Heat
Achieving the UK’s zero carbon goals should include CHP
Combined heat & power (CHP) offers a wide range of advantages including financial, efficiency, ecological and legislative support
Heat
Delivering the networks of the future
Network spoke to Steven Read, trainee programmes manager at UK Power Networks, about how apprenticeships will be crucial to developing the smart infrastructure of the future.
Gas
Reflections: Future of Heat conference
The Network Future of Heat Conference demonstrated growing industry consensus at the start of a critical year for energy and heat policy.
Heat
The devolution dilemma – pros and cons for the net zero agenda
Almost a year after the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) issued its recommendation that the UK should up its decarbonisation game and embrace a 2050 net zero emissions target, the battle to mitigate climate crisis continues to dominate in political, industrial and public dialogue, writes Jane Gray following this week's Future Networks conference.
Gas
Laying the foundations for heat network growth
Government proposals to increase customer protection and accelerate decarbonisation across heat networks, now backed by a multi-million funding commitment, are welcome news, says Switch2 Energy chief executive Richard Slee
Gas
Electrifying the low carbon heat debate
The Ground Source Heat Pump Association (GSHPA) begins 2020 with a new look and a new confidence that - with heat pumps emerging as a favoured option in the government's Future Homes consultation - the sector is about to come into its own.
Strategy & Management
Building a net-zero network for north Scotland
As owner of the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland, SSEN Transmission has a critical role to play in the transition to net zero - by building the transmission infrastructure required to connect renewable electricity generation, and transporting that clean electricity to areas of demand, writes Bless Kuri, head of transmission system planning and investment.
Power
Cybersecurity: defending the grid
The recent stand-off between the US and Iran raised fears that the UK's energy transmission and distribution sector could be targeted by state-sponsored hackers.
Gas
Paying for net zero –
The UK's 2050 net zero emissions commitment has added urgency to calls for a review of the allocation of decarbonisation costs. Jane Gray reports on a recent Network debate event, hosted in association with National Grid.
Gas
What can we learn from August 9th?
The summer of 2019 saw the disconnection of more than a million electricity customers in Britain's largest single electricity system disturbance in over ten years. Here, UKERC co-director, Professor Keith Bell, summarises the findings of the government and regulator investigations into the incident and unpacks potential lessons for the electricity sector and its readiness for further decarbonisation without compromising security of supply.
Heat
An honourable mention: James Yu interview
SP Energy Networks' Future Networks Manager, Professor James Yu, received an MBE in the New Year's Honours List. Here Network catches up with him to discuss challenges, past, present and future.
Gas
New energy management models needed after Ofgem review
Significant changes to network charging methodology announced by Ofgem are likely to have a major impact on industrial and commercial (I&C) energy bills from April 2021, writes Charlie Ward of New Stream Renewables.
Gas
Maximising power generation from older landfill sites
A growing number of organisations responsible for aged landfill sites are facing costly environmental emissions legacies, as many suppliers of landfill gas generation services are walking away, citing diminishing gas yields making it uneconomic. According to Stuart Watson of Ylem Energy - one of the UK's pioneers in landfill generation - this does not have to be the case.
Power
Cyber security: defending the grid
The recent stand-off between the US and Iran raised fears that the UK grid could be targeted by state-sponsored hackers. Network asked Professor Roger Kemp and Ahmed Kotb at the Institution of Engineering and Technology about the risks.
Gas
Low carbon heat must go electric in 2020, says GSHPA
The chairman of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association (GSHPA) has told Network that 2020 will be a key milestone on the road to net-zero, when it plans to "build a significant coalition for the decarbonisation of heat through electrification".
Customers
UK software firm SGS expands services in US
UK software provider Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS) is launching a customer portal for utility companies in the US after successfully implementing the system for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and UK Power Networks.
Gas
Energy trading and asset management in a ‘flex’ market
Dominic Fava, head of marketing and propositions at Origami, a provider of energy trading platforms, looks at the difficulties of trading energy in a more flexible - and therefore volatile - electricity market, and how a new generation of smart IT systems will be needed to support energy companies.
Gas
Calculating storage and flexibility in a net-zero world
Alex Buckman, networks and energy storage practice manager at the Energy Systems Catapult, describes its new Storage and Flexibility Model, a number-crunching tool that can calculate the future storage and renewable generation capacity needed to meet variable demand in a net-zero world.
Gas
Squeezing efficiency from energy-from-waste
A high-efficiency waste gasification demonstrator project funded by the Energy Technologies Institute is producing electricity for the grid, but its sponsoring organisation was wound up at the end of December. Before closing day, ETI project manager Paul Winstanley told Elaine Knutt about what the ETI/Kew Technology Sustainable Energy Centre has achieved, and possible future milestones.
Power
Widening the pool for energy flexibility services
The UK's distribution networks need to get smarter in order to balance supply and demand, writes John Hayling of AMT-Sybex.