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The National Energy System Operator (NESO) must prioritise the development of reliable communications solutions for energy networks as part of its remit, a leading energy transition authority has said.
The operator, which is due to launch this summer, does not currently include establishing resilient communications systems for energy in its top 10 priorities, it was claimed.
Eric Brown, an independent consultant in energy systems at Grid Scientific, and former director of innovation at the Energy Systems Catapult, warned that a failure to address deficiencies in current communications systems could hamper energy system digitalisation and jeopardise delivery of net zero targets.
Speaking during a recent Utility Week webinar, Brown argued the NESO should take responsibility for leading the effort to ensure communications networks used by the energy sector are fit for purpose.
More actors and devices will be connected and interacting while much more data is sent back and forth. “Hundreds or thousands will become many millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions,” Brown said. Connectivity may be needed in places where it is not readily available today, he added.
Brown acknowledged the NESO was “an emerging organisation with a huge amount to do to address the full scope of its remit”. However, he suggested it should explicitly call out the need for new and extended communications capability as part of its responsibility for advancing energy system digitalisation.
“Communications are an essential part of digital infrastructure,” he stressed. “For utilities, there is a real risk communications will not be available with sufficient capability and resilience, and within timescales and at a cost that will support the transformation in the way we would like it to do.”
Brown suggested the ubiquity of consumer-focused mobile communications services may be driving a degree of “complacency” about the ability of the energy sector to support the necessary degree of connectivity to enable the operation of smart grids and support energy flexibility.
However, he clarified that public telecoms networks were just one of many potential options that include private slices of public networks, private networks and solutions build from a technology portfolio including fixed, mobile, wireless, and satellite systems. Utilities also needed to consider dedicated spectrum allocation.
His views were backed up during the webinar by industry experts from UK Power Networks and SSEN.
Development of appropriate comms solutions for a fully digitised energy system cannot be left to chance. Reiterating his belief that NESO will be well-positioned to take ownership of this issue, Brown emphasised: “We need to design in communications.”
Brown said it was important that efforts to future-proof utilities communications networks took in not just technical solutions, but policy, the regulatory environment, and the supply chain. Allocating specific spectrum to utilities, as many energy companies are lobbying for in Europe, was an option that should also be looked at in the UK. Utilities should also be considering whether to establish private communications networks.
“Spectrum allocation is an important issue. The alternative is to do nothing and hope for the best, which is a really bad choice.”
The NESO should prioritise communications as part of a wider focus on digitalisation, he concluded.
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