Networks must collaborate on common smart tech standards

Industry will otherwise face restrictive rules and regulations imposed by government

Networks operators will need to work closely together to drive forward the standardisation of innovative smart technology, a senior figure at National Grid has said.

The industry will otherwise face having restrictive rules and regulations imposed by government at a time when in needs to be “more flexible than perhaps ever before”.

“Actually, we can avoid much of that as an industry just by listening to our customers and users and talking to each other,” said head of network management at National Grid Electricity Transmission, Daniel Westerman.

Speaking at the Future Networks Conference in Birmingham yesterday (21 March), he told delegates: “An industry that talks to itself properly and really makes sure it understands one another’s needs can make it a whole lot simpler and can avoid the need to overly prescribe itself in terms of things like standards and rulesets, especially at a time when we are trying to go through a transition.”

Nevertheless, Westerman said it said it is too early actually start setting common standards to ensure the interoperability smart technology. To do so now would “overly stifle innovation and limit our ability to change, when we probably need to be more flexible than perhaps ever before in our history.”

Colin Taylor, director of engineering services at SP Energy Networks, disagreed: “I do fundamentally believe that there are a number of technologies, in active network management for example, which are at the stage where we do need some standardisation.

“One of my frustrations is how roll out things at scale when there’s a number of bespoke products – bespoke IT products, sensors – that wouldn’t necessarily work with each other.”

He said a “fine balance” does need to be struck to avoid starting too early or too late but added: “It’s time for standardisation and I think it’s incumbent on industry to drive that forward.”

Western Power Distribution future networks manager Roger Hey said operators only have to manage hundreds of smart tech devices at the moment, but the figures will “certainly” rise into the tens of thousands, and “probably” into hundreds of thousands. Leaving standardisation too late could leave them with “a whole bunch of systems which don’t hang together”.

He conceded that the issue of when to standardise is a tricky one: “You could do a whole thesis on when is the right time to do that”. Even so, he said discussions were rightly beginning on some “no regrets” options.

Beth Chaudhary, head of smart policy at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said government will still have an important to role to play, for example when it comes to the smart technologies used by consumers: “There is a rapidly emerging connected homes and business issue that we don’t yet have a full standards framework to govern.

“As we speak parliament are debating standards for charging points for electric vehicles to ensure they have sufficient smart capability that they can potentially play a part in active balancing in the future.”

However, Ofgem associate partner for RIIO gas networks Geoffrey Randall said the regulator would be “very uncomfortable” setting specific rules and regulations, adding that common standards should instead be the result of industry collaboration.