The UK’s ageing grid infrastructure was built for centralised generation. It’s time our distribution networks caught up with renewables and decentralised energy, says Alexandre Golisano.

Power cuts like those the UK ­experienced last month are a once in a decade occurrence. The managed shutdown implemented by National Grid kept people and infrastructure safe and was within its guidelines. Nevertheless, in our increasingly electrified economy, a loss of power (and therefore productivity) can cost millions of pounds. Lightning strikes are a routine issue that network operators must – and mainly do – deal with, but in this case several disruptive incidents coincided to overwhelm the systems.

The UK energy network is very safe and reliable, but as climate change makes weather more extreme, it is ever more important to increase our grid’s resilience to adverse events. At the same time, emissions reduction goals, including the most recent 2050 net zero target, demand that we diversify the energy we generate to include more renewable sources.

However, the rise of distributed generation means our grid supply relies on a greater number of players, and maintaining reliability becomes a more complex challenge. Faced with challenges such as severe weather events, value chain disruption and fluctuating power supply and price, companies will need to embrace the latest technologies to improve energy security and responsiveness to future-proof operations.

Rethinking reliability

An ageing grid infrastructure is a barrier to reliable low-carbon energy supply in many developed nations. The millions and ­ millions pumped into asset replacement by distribution network operators (DNOs) over the past eight years have not increased the overall health of the UK’s distribution network, and ageing assets are still a major concern. One of the main factors for our flawed infrastructure is that we are simply “patchworking” over the basic infrastructure introduced many years ago, designed to deliver energy from coal-fired power stations to power-hungry urban and industrial areas. The UK has adapted significantly since then and new and improved infrastructure must be implemented to suit our daily needs.

The key to the reliability problem is an integrated, active approach to energy management that enables resilience with its diversity of supply and demand. Our current grid infrastructure is siloed into many sections and relies on a reactive approach. The industry is now turning its attention towards a holistic view of the strategies, data and resources needed to reduce consumption, drive innovation and maximise savings – active energy management.

Rather than treating the procurement, dispensation and evolution of energy as disparate activities, the active energy management approach assumes that these activities are interdependent and indispensable.

By addressing operational efficiency, enabled by digitalisation and technology, operators can reduce susceptibility to outages and potential downtime.

Strategically sourcing energy supply from a diverse portfolio that includes renewables reduces risk while maximising continuity. Investing in new energy opportunities and distributed energy resources (DERs) — like demand response, battery storage, smart grid technologies, fuel cells, combined heat and power, and distributed wind — can further the development of corporate assets that are responsive, agile, and reliable.

The result is both cost and carbon savings. Reductions in resource consumption from efficiency projects will lower carbon emissions and consequently the money saved can be used to fund sustainability projects. Despite once being a huge cost to countries, renewable electricity is now cheaper than conventional generation in more than 60 countries, and will be the most inexpensive source of power everywhere by 2020. Simultaneously, DERs will continue to drive savings by allowing organisations to store power to use during peak load times and by reducing transmission utility charges.

Microgrids

As more entities embark on the active energy management journey and explore the flexibility of DERs, it is inevitable that there will be a growth in the deployment of microgrids to achieve grid autonomy. A self-contained, localised grid that typically includes a combination of generation and storage assets, microgrids can both integrate with existing grids or operate independently in “island mode”. This flexibility and reliance on DERs makes them the epitome of true energy resilience.

Microgrids can be used as standalone generation sources – because they are in both rural or off-grid electrification, or disconnected, remote geographies – or as back-up power stations that ensure continuity of critical systems. And new financing models, such as microgrids-as-a-service, mean that companies can invest in a system without any upfront costs.

Despite the advantages of active energy management and its role in improving reliability and resilience, implementation is still far behind corporate intentions. Whereas many companies are exploring the possible benefits of implementing programmes to improve energy efficiency, comparatively few are considering solutions to solve the resilience challenge. Recognising and adapting to the revolution in energy, integrating renewable and clean sources of energy into the grid, could also be the solution to transforming our energy consumption habits and protecting our world as a whole.

The mission

In our mission to cut our national carbon footprint, embracing the digitalised and decentralised model of energy generation is essential. To do this successfully, the way we manage and secure our energy supply must keep up with innovation.