Traction Bulk Supply Points are large capacity grid connections designed to support peak demand on the rail traction system. Because traction power is typically very peaky in nature this capacity is not optimally utilised. Installing battery storage facilities at traction BSPs and unlocking connection agreements to enable two-way dynamic flow could shift rail energy demand away from peak periods, unlocking capacity for other customers; support regional balancing of supply and demand; fulfil unmet demands for flexibility services in areas with network constraints; and increase the commercial scope for new traction-connected generation capacity, replacing curtailment with load shifting and export capability.
Traditional reserve power systems that support critical infrastructure, such as telecoms equipment, use fossil fuels, such as diesel generators, which will be replaced by batteries as they are decarbonised. This will in turn increase demand on the local electricity network. Research from the University of Reading estimates there is over 2GWh of backup power in the UK that, during winter when required cooling load is low, could be used for other purposes such as regional balancing or flex.
Unlocking this potential capacity could accelerate the decarbonisation of reserve power systems and reduce the net load increase on the electricity network.
Electricity demand from heating could quadruple by 2050 to over 100TWh per year, almost a third of GB's current annual electricity demand.
Hot Chips will demonstrate how data centre surplus heat could reduce the energy demand of district heat (DH) networks and explore how DNOs and data centres can work collaboratively to decarbonise DH networks.
Using water-sourced heat pumps in an ambient loop array, this project will reduce electrical demand and increase system efficiency. Coupled thermal storage will provide thermal flexibility for homes as well as electrical demand flexibility for DNOs.
Rural communities face challenges in decarbonising heating systems are more vulnerable to climate change impacts and more likely to be Worst Served Customers (WSCs). Decarbonising these areas could increase electricity demand, exacerbating resilience issues, especially for WSC. Strengthening the electricity network in these areas would be expensive and take time, so alternative solutions are needed.
SHARED will explore the potential of low-cost hydrogen production and storage as a solution to improve the resilience of these communities. The project will assess how effective this approach could be and identify the specific needs of rural communities.
Energy efficiency retrofits rolled out by Local Authorities (LAs) and Social Housing Providers (SHPs), such as home insulation and storage heating, represent an opportunity to procure flexibility from disadvantaged households that are typically not able to participate in flexibility markets.
Flex Direct aims to develop a new way to procure this type of flexibility by Distribution System Operators (DSOs). The project is developing novel commercial models and coordinated market approaches to enable LAs and SHPs to operate in direct contract with DSOs. This will incentivise use of energy efficiency in flexibility markets and facilitate participation of 'hard-to-reach' customers at scale.
Today, the vessels, docks, and ports operating on the Thames run mostly on fossil fuels, but this is changing as the river's economy decarbonises. There is limited understanding how this shift will affect the electricity network.
Working together with stakeholders across marine and energy industry, we will map out the future of maritime transport in the central Thames area and explore the potential benefits of Boat to Grid (B2G) charging. The outcomes will shape a whole system planning framework for our waterways, offering insights for decarbonisation and electrification that can be replicated across Great Britain.
As the share of inverter-based resources, including renewable generation, increases, lower system strength can lead to uncontrolled voltage changes which can escalate to instability and risk widescale customer disconnections. To secure the Net Zero grid, Network Owners urgently need to monitor system strength conditions to implement the most effective and economic mitigations. At present, neither the requirements for system strength monitoring nor the possible hardware and digital solutions are well defined. The SYSMET Project brings together leading experts to create the pathway for confident implementation of measurement-based tools that provide comprehensive visibility of system strength status for operational decision making.
Gaining consent from third party landowners to install, maintain, and upgrade network equipment is a challenge for network operators. When a customer wants to connect to the network or operational works are required, delays in securing consent from landowners is a barrier, causing frustration to all.
Wayl-ease seeks to create a transparent, secure platform for consents and link network operators and landowners via an automated self-service, online engagement and digital payment platform. By creating a novel data-led process to give customers visibility of consents, Wayl-ease will facilitate improved planning, faster network transformation and more informed customers.
Heat pumps are essential for reducing the UK's building emissions, but their widespread use could strain local electricity networks. HeatNet will demonstrate how coordinating heat pump operations with advanced algorithms can address these challenges.
HeatNet will develop innovative machine-learning tools to manage heat pump power loads to help regulate voltage drops at the grid edge and ensure customer warmth. Our aim is to develop an independent service to accelerate the electrification of heat with new strategies that improve voltage quality and network reliability.
The EssNet Pathfinder project will develop and deploy Essex Community Energy CIC (ECECIC), a energy services company structured as a social enterprise and designed to support the numerous opportunities for community-based/led energy generation, storage and use which exist across the County of Essex. By deploying new business models and providing expertise services to communities (both domestic and business) ECECIC will enable decarbonisation of the local energy network, increased levels of energy security and a just transition to Net Zero. EssNet Pathfinder fundamentally supports Essex's Net Zero ambitions and will result in benefits to the environment, local businesses, and the residents of Essex. The project is designed to be scalable and replicable and has the potential for positive impact across the UK.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Commission for Climate (CPICC) estimated that £700m p.a. of funding will be required through the 2020s to decarbonise the area, and identified the need for an ambitious funding plan. This project seeks to build on this work, developing a series of practical and implementable place-based finance and funding packages to accelerate the delivery of net zero. Funding and financing Cambridgeshire's Net Zero ambitions is a significant challenge. We must look beyond the public purse and engage with private sector investment.
The CANFFUND Project will look at the financial flows of money to identify where/how money is currently spent/invested through the economy and use **systems thinking** approaches to co-design mechanisms to redirect finance/funding/purchasing toward low carbon, local solutions. The initial focus is on power, heat, mobility and product manufacturing.
Only by working in collaboration with partners and communities, across all sectors, utilising findings from existing and ongoing research programmes, can we identify and be part of the levers and opportunities for new financing innovations, and create the place based, local net zero financing framework we need. The project will bring together stakeholders from across community, business, public sector and investors to share understanding of the challenge and collaborate on solutions. This will build capacity, capability and skills and bring new opportunities to explore, such as the commercial and financial investments required for rural, farming and Agri-tech communities. All of this will extend and enhance work of the Connected Places Catapult, 3Ci project and other research programmes and disseminate learning.
Our project will build on research by 3CI and others and seek to apply concepts of bundling projects together across power, heat and mobility into different proxy places. These proxy places will reflect the rural nature of Cambridgeshire's oil-dependent villages; market towns and low density urban communities, to identify the differences and benefits in 'places' for financing and funding Net Zero. The project uses an innovative "finance-first" approach to investigate the financial opportunities across the whole system and co-develop tangible solutions with all stakeholders and communities.
The Essex Net Zero Delivery Task Force (EssNet) will address multiple non-technical systemic barriers which hinder or prevent the delivery of net zero targets. It focusses on the whole net zero system in the county of Essex (heat, power, mobility, product manufacture and usage). It is led by Essex County Council (ECC). EssNet will address, financing; capacity, capability and skills; policy and regulation; system governance and common data standards for open source and interoperability. EssNet will draw upon a mutli-disciplinary team of experts and newly created mechanisms to overcome non-technical barriers and accelerate the journey towards net zero systems in Essex.
EV adoption is crucial for the UK to meet climate targets and tackle air pollution. Battery costs and consumer acceptance are improving, but a remaining barrier inhibiting rapid EV uptake is lack of public recharging infrastructure. A substantial 8m vehicle owners in the UK don't have access to off-street parking and therefore cannot charge an EV at home.
There are several approaches to this problem, however each has drawbacks:
Standalone on-street chargepoint -- often inconveniently located, expensive, and presents access issues due to bulky equipment
Lamppost charging -- cheap but limited to lampposts close to the road. Power restricted to 2-5kW.
Wire trenches -- slotting cable in pavement between chargepoint in home and car. Needs users parked directly outside their house
Pop-up and wireless charging -- in early stages of development
Rapid charge hubs -- no evidence yet that this is a solution for residents
The Trojan Energy system however, presents a novel, cost-effective solution to the lack of on-street chargepoints. It involves a flush connection, where the chargepoint is slotted into the ground, resulting in no permanent street clutter on the pavement edge. To charge an EV, the user inserts the 'lance' into the connector, and the other end plugs into the car.
The STEP Phase 1 study successfully proved the feasibility of these chargepoints. There is substantial demand for the commercially viable product: ~90% of workshop attendees said they wanted the technology installed outside their home, and the majority of survey respondents said the solution would help overcome the barrier of lack of public charging. Additionally, local authorities have confidence in the technology, particularly as it is scalable and helps to relieve parking pressure within boroughs.
The Phase 2 trial will demonstrate the charging system in a real-life environment. Entire streets within Brent and Camden will be fitted with the technology -- connectors will be placed about 5m apart, allowing residents to charge regardless of where they park. Several users have already expressed interest in the technology, and Octopus Energy will also recruit some of their home energy and EV customers.
Furthermore, as 15 connectors can run in parallel, requiring only one grid connection, costs can be reduced, and effective grid management can be enabled. Chargepoints and vehicles will be monitored in the trial, to gain information on charging behaviour and to substantiate potential revenue from grid services, an important aspect for distribution network operators (DNOs).
"Significant EV adoption is crucial for the UK to meet its climate targets and tackle air pollution in cities. Battery costs and consumer acceptance are improving, but one of the remaining barriers inhibiting rapid uptake of EVs is lack of public recharging infrastructure. A substantial 8 million vehicle owners in the UK today do not have access to off-street parking and therefore cannot charge an EV at home.
There are several approaches to this problem, however each have drawbacks:
* Standalone on-street chargepoint - often inconveniently located (i.e. not targeted at residents), expensive, and bulky equipment presents access issues
* Lamppost charging - cheap but limited to lampposts close to the road (or cables have to cross pavements, be fed underneath or slotted into trenches). Power restricted to 2-5kW
* Wire trenches - slotting cable in the pavement between chargepoint in home and car. Needs users parked directly outside their house, which can't be guaranteed
* Pop-up and wireless charging - in early stages of development
* Rapid charge hubs - no evidence yet that this is a solution for residents
The Trojan Energy system however, presents a novel, cost-effective solution to the lack of on-street chargepoints. It involves a flush connection, where the chargepoint is slotted into the ground, resulting in no permanent footprint or street clutter - there is only equipment on the street when the vehicle is charging. To charge an EV, the user inserts the 'lance' (which is stored in the vehicle) into the connector, and the other end plugs into the car.
Trojan plans on fitting entire streets with the technology, with each connector placed about 5m apart, so that no matter where a consumer parks on the street, they will be able to charge their EV. Another advantage is that 20 connectors can run in parallel, requiring only one grid connection, which reduces costs and enables more effective grid management.
In order for the technology to be successfully implemented, it first needs to: be tested and trialled; incorporate feedback from industry experts and potential users into the design; and a viable business model needs to be developed. This project involves the study of these aspects, as well as other commercial, user, urban and technical feasibility aspects, including appropriate certification methods. Outputs of the study will be used to develop the plan for the demonstrator trial, which will then prove viability of the system in real life."
The global logistics company UPS is committed to greening its delivery fleet, but the lack of electric freight vehicles and electric infrastructure restrictions have held it back. Smart Electric Urban Logistics provides an innovative set of solutions which will support this change and make a vital contribution to cutting emissions in the key central London area. It will also provide a scalable set of outputs which other logistics and freight operators can implement to improve their vehicle fleets and ultimately the environment. A trial of electric vehicles forms the centre piece, with real duty cycles providing evidence for emissions reduction versus existing diesel fuel use. Instead of disruptive infrastructure improvement work, the project will focus on smart charging and making best use of existing supply through efficient use. An innovative time variance tool will provide a key mechanism for delivering efficiency, and this will help to create additional capacity in electrical supply with short lead-in times. A five year strategy for the electrification of UPS's entire central London fleet of 170 vehicles will result, moving the company towards its green objectives and providing an exemplar and real-world data for other UK organisations interested in the electrification of vehicles.
The "Active CHP-VPP" project partners UK Power Networks, Flexitricity, Smart Grid Solutions, EnerG CHP and the Advanced Digital Institute are investigating the feasibility of a pioneering Virtual Power Plant (Active CHP-VPP) which combines Commercial Aggregation and Active Network Management . The Active CHP-VPP would link demand and supply utilizing clusters of small CHP generators, and integrate both heat and electricity into a VPP, offering the potential for greater provision of low-carbon energy with limited capital investment.
As a result of changing Government energy policy to tackle climate change DNOs expect to face growth in electricity demand. If this demand occurs at times of existing network peaks, DNOs face a difficult challenge of ensuring capacity without over investing in network reinforcement.
In addition to growing consumer demand for white and brown goods and growth in heat pumps and EVs, the uptake of distributed PV generation is placing further constraints on networks designed for smaller, one way loads. Unless consumer demands become more flexible, continuing reinforcement of the low voltage network will be an expensive reality of managing the distribution infrastructure.
UK Power Networks is examining with PassivSystems the feasibility of creating flexible demand from residential customers in order to reduce peak load growth and thereby reduce the need for traditional network reinforcement.