Innovation Award - Energy
Celebrating the ambition, creativity and determination of utilities as they push the boundaries of collaborative innovation.
Innovation Award - Energy
Celebrating the ambition, creativity and determination of utilities as they push the boundaries of collaborative innovation.
1Spatial Group and UK Power Networks - 1Streetworks Pilot
1Streetworks by 1Spatial is revolutionising traffic management planning with a digital collaborative platform that directly addresses many industry challenges.
The creation of traffic management (TM) plans remains an issue for the industry with turnaround times measured in days using technology that has remained largely unchanged for 30 years and on that remains manual and error prone and often last minute. 1Streetworks automatically creates a safe and compliant TM plan at the push of a button in under 2 minutes.
1Streetworks is cloud based and runs on any internet browser on any device with no need for specialist hardware or software.
Electricity North West, Rossendale Valley Energy, Centre for Energy Equality and Buro Happold - Net Zero Terrace
Net Zero Terrace provides affordable low carbon energy and healthy warm homes at no upfront costs. It focuses on community engagement and benefit to deliver a technology solution which is operated via a smart local energy system using the DNO network. It provides a solution for homes with no space for an air source heat pump, those in fuel poverty and vulnerable customers. Electricity North West has formed a collaborative partnership with community energy organisation Rossendale Valley Energy, the Centre for Energy Equality and Buro Happold to work together on the development of the innovative Net Zero Terrace concept.
GTC - The Community Heat Hub
The Community Heat Hub [CHH] delivers FHS, replacing gas on new build, low-rise, low-density developments. Large air source heat pumps and thermal stores are located in a central Hub. They generate hot water, which is distributed to homes through an insulated heat network. The thermal stores smooth out grid demand, avoiding peak times and high electricity costs. This reduces the site’s grid capacity and reduces heat charges for homes. Homes have hassle-free heat and hot water. GTC owns all the equipment and looks after all repair and replacement costs – all regulated by Ofgem.
National Energy System Operator - Enduring Auction Capability
The Enduring Auction Capability (EAC) project, led by the ESO, is a pioneering innovation in energy flexibility, revolutionising procurement through co-optimised auctions for Dynamic Frequency Response services. Its dynamic pricing incentivises market adaptability, fostering innovation.
The project's scalability ensures long-term relevance, benefiting networks, consumers and prioritizing decarbonisation. The inaugural auction saw strong industry participation, reflecting readiness and support.
Additionally, significant cost savings were achieved, with a 40% reduction in Dynamic Response services contracts, saving £2.5m in its first month.
National Energy System Operator & Smith Institute - Dynamic Reserve Setting
The Dynamic Reserve Setting (DRS) project leverages explainable AI to support the British energy grid to operate more efficiently without impacting grid security. Britain's energy grid must balance supply and demand. To safeguard against unexpected fluctuations, the ESO holds reserves of energy. Previously, reserve levels were set biannually and manually adjusted by control room engineers, an approach that's increasingly inefficient in today's dynamic grid featuring unpredictable energy sources such as wind and solar. Within 2 hours of being trialed, the DRS model advised engineers to cut 1GW of reserve, reducing system operating costs significantly, and therefore consumer bills.
SSEN Transmission - Rapid Evaluation Areal Connection Tool
Determining the best location for new demand and generation connections has a significant impact on the electricity transmission’s network configuration, operation and ability to deliver its Net Zero targets. REACT is an easy-to-use digital web-based transmission level geographical planning tool providing a diverse group of stakeholders with a unique understanding of the complexities of upgrading the power grid to deliver Net Zero.
Visualising power-flows and the contracted substation pipeline in the context of other decarbonisation pathways, REACT helps users identify the optimal locations to connect to the network and streamline the connection process where pre-application information is often restricted.