Public Funding for UK Power Networks Services (Commercial) Limited

The project goal is to develop and demonstrate a Low-profile EV Charging Solutions for Fleets, minimising the use of depot floor-space, whilst maximising charging power and so operational flexibility. The UK is currently going through a unique period. COVID-19 has shocked society and the economy, whilst at the same time the world must respond quickly to reduce green-house-gas emissions and prevent catastrophic climate change. The requirement for economic stimulus to help recover from COVID-19 offers an opportunity to "Build back better". This project aims to support public transport operators' and emergency services' transition to zero-emissions fleets, whilst ensuring response to rapidly changing requirements due to COVID-19 recovery efforts. Transport accounts for the largest proportion (28%) of the UK's Green-House-Gas Emissions and fleets and heavy goods vehicles consume the majority of UK's diesel and so largest contributor to air-quality issues. Electrifying road transport is a proven solution for the UK to reach net-zero. This project focuses on reducing the infrastructure barriers for fleet electrification, so encouraging EV uptake. COVID-19 highlighted that flexible public transport is critical for COVID-19 recovery, and society. Operators are required to change schedules and maximise capacity in response to changing social distancing rules. However, bus operator's transition to EVs can lead to reduced flexibility and bus garage capacity due to charging infrastructure space impacts, and the time required to charge. This project focuses on developing a solution to maximise operational flexibility with higher power charging, whilst minimising space impacts of charge-points. Similarly, Emergency Services remain key to the UK's COVID-19 recovery. Emergency Services fleets must respond rapidly to critical events. EVs limit responsiveness of the fleet due to charging times. This project will address this challenge.

The project will comprise of a desktop study that will be carried out in the below four phases: **Phase 1: Analysis and review of Heathrow's existing remote operation technologies and processes** We will review and analyse the existing SCADA and remote operation systems at Heathrow Airport. We will identify under normal operating conditions how the technology is used for safe and secure operation, the processes involved, and the staff critical interactions with the systems. This will give a clear benchmark of what is normal practice at Heathrow Airport. **Phase 2: Identifying needs in constraint environment (COVID 19 etc.)** We will focus on the constraints that the COVID 19 situation is placing on the operation of Heathrow's network and the impact on critical staff for the operation of the network. The impact on normal maintenance operations will additionally be identified, and also consider scenarios where further impacts on staff could lead to detrimental impacts on operating the network at Heathrow. We will carry out this data gathering through telephone calls and video conferencing. **Phase 3: Innovative technology and market study -- review of commercially available solutions** The SCADA market has been continuously expanding and a number of suppliers are now offering remote applications for monitoring of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and remote terminal unit (RTUs). More importantly, the desired solution should not only address the challenges identified in the COVID-19 environment but should also be useful in other restrictions for many years into the future. As part of this study, we would also focus on how the innovative solution could place Heathrow in a more resilient and competitive position. The options would include the following: 1. Ability to operate the infrastructure with limited availability of control engineers 2. Ability to carry out switching operations remotely or with the help from the control room 3. Ability to switch off the electricity network to reduce losses and energy costs The study would consider implementing the following technologies: 1. The Internet of Things (IoT) 2. Augmented Reality 3. Virtual Reality 4. Artificial Intelligence **Phase 4: Final Report** The final output of the study would be a comprehensive report that will recommend technologies, processes and tools which could be adopted at Heathrow along with a vision of what a smarter remote operation system might look for working through a pandemic situation such as being faced with COVID 19\.

Awaiting public summary

The Wireless Electric Fleets project will look to investigate the feasibility of wireless charging at logistics depots, utility sites and taxi-ranks. Both commercial and technical analysis will input into the development of business case. Based on this business case the feasibility of real-world demonstrators of the technology will be determined.