The National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC), led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, has warned that the government must urgently prioritise the digitalisation of the GB electricity system in order to deliver against the UK’s Clean Power 2030 target, maintain system resilience and reduce energy costs to consumers.
The warning comes from a new report, Smart Systems for Clean Power: Why faster, better digitalisation is critical for Clean Power 2030 and beyond, which calls for work to establish a permanent digitalisation coordination function to be accelerated, and a dedicated system integration function to be established.
The Academy notes that successful infrastructure transformations depend crucially on clear overall governance, co-ordinating architecture and accountability. The scale of the task we are attempting in decarbonising our electricity system will also require engineering and technical skills that the UK doesn’t currently possess. Recent analysis shows an additional 200,000 workers are needed by 2030 across the energy sector. (2)
Without addressing these challenges, Academy experts warn that we run the risk of developing multiple incompatible systems, technical divergence, cyber security risks and rising costs.
Smart Systems for Clean Power argues that, properly coordinated, faster, better digitalisation will:
Better manage supply and demand across millions of energy assets: Our future energy system will source power from a myriad of places, from rooftop solar panels to wind turbines in the North Sea, to serve an increasingly complex landscape of electric vehicles, heat pumps and electrified industrial plants. Supply and demand will change dynamically in response to factors as diverse as weather conditions and the choices of millions of users.
Such a system must be digitally enabled, with shared data, software and hardware helping system and network operators to see across the whole system in real time and coordinate rapid action to manage it.
Help manage excess capacity and curtailment costs
Digitally enabled flexibility services, including via smart tariffs, will allow abundant renewable electricity to be used at time of generation. This will relieve curtailment and balancing costs (financial payments to solar or wind operators to limit the amount they generate), that are currently high and projected to rise. This could help to reduce system costs and consumer bills as well as saving energy.
Reduce cybersecurity risks
A well designed digitally enabled system, with a permanent digitalisation coordination function, will be able to minimise systemic risks including cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, control rooms, or digital platforms. Without proper coordination these risks would be heightened.
Smart Systems for Clean Power: Why faster, better digitalisation is critical for Clean Power 2030 and beyond makes several other recommendations. These include making sure that systems, markets and platforms are integrated; using National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) Sector Digitalisation Plan as a near-term foundation and embedding feedback loops to capture learning and improve performance.
It also highlights that faster, better digitalisation relies on a more rapid roll out of smart meters. Widespread adoption of smart meters is key to providing the underlying data for a smart, digitalised electricity system and the benefits they provide, such as reduced prices through dynamic tariffs, but this depends on 86–90% of UK households installing them. Currently around 70% of households in Great Britain have smart meters. In addition, seven million smart meters will require replacement or upgrading by 2033, to ensure they can access advanced digital services.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald GBE FREng FRSE, Chair of the NEPC Clean Power Advisory Working Group said:
“There is a lot to celebrate after a decade of real progress in renewable energy production. It is right that government, as part of its Clean Power 2030 mission, is now prioritising the upgrades we need to our electricity networks to ensure these new resources can reach the areas of demand where they can be fully utilised. However, digitalisation, and the flexibility it unlocks, is the missing link between renewable energy assets, electricity networks and reduced costs, both for consumers and for the cost of system upgrades that are underway.
“At present, there is no designated body who has overall responsibility and ownership of digitalisation strategy – this lack of clarity and direction risks the delivery of systems that fail to integrate. We therefore call on government to urgently create an effective coordination function, with senior strategic oversight within government, for this crucial part of our ongoing system transformation.”
Learn more: https://nepc.raeng.org.uk/
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