Creating a level playing field

EV charging expansion is currently largely market-driven, risking the exclusion of communities where connections are more costly. in Cumbria,SP ENW worked with the local council and Cumbria Tourism to identify 122 remote sites unsuitable for independent council development, proposing the creation of mini-substation kiosks to enable future third-party-owned EV charging points.

The work was made possible by SP ENW’s development of a web-based tool connected to its open data platform, which enables councils to locate EV charging infrastructure in their region and identify geographic locations where it may be easier, more cost effective or quicker to install public charging. Use of the platform has now been extended to all councils served by SP ENW.

Another technological initiative aligned with ‘just transition’ and ‘place-based social DSO’ goals is a new network voltage control technology being targeted at areas most likely to benefit from the associated reduced energy costs.

Smart Street exploits new controllable switching devices integrated into SP ENW’s network management system and controlled by Siemens’ power grid management software to stabilise voltage, preventing it from exceeding or falling below statutory limits.

“Controlled at substation level, Smart Street can be rolled out in very specific geographic areas,” explains Norris, “We're looking to target areas of worst served customers and areas of particular vulnerability on the network."

Helen Norris, stakeholder engagement & responsible business manager, SP ENW

This makes it possible to reduce customer voltage supply to an optimum level, improving the energy efficiency of household electrical appliances, ultimately reducing energy bills and lowering network losses. Analysis has shown that a customer’s electricity usage can be cut by up to 8%, equivalent to a £60 reduction to the annual household electricity bill.

“Controlled at substation level, Smart Street can be rolled out in very specific geographic areas,” explains Norris, “We're looking to target areas of worst served customers and areas of particular vulnerability on the network. By implementing the technology at a DSO level, it means you're not asking customers to make energy efficiency decisions themselves.”

“We're really looking to increase the range of flexibility service providers that we purchase from. We want hospitals to participate, we want the community centres to participate, we want schools to participate; we've really ramped up our outreach to those types of customers and stakeholders.”

Paul Auckland, head of DSO, SP ENW

A key function of a DSO, that’s expected to play an increasing role as the grid decarbonises, is the procurement of flexibility services - signing contracts with regional owners and operators of flexible assets to turn down demand or turn up generation at short notice to help maintain grid stability.

Traditionally, the sector has purchased flexibility from bigger, established corporate entities and flexibility service providers. SP ENW is aiming to flip the script and increase social sector participation in flexibility markets, helping channel money and resources into communities to support their net zero ambitions and other initiatives.

Auckland says: “We're really looking to increase the range of flexibility service providers that we purchase from. We want hospitals to participate, we want the community centres to participate, we want schools to participate; we've really ramped up our outreach to those types of customers and stakeholders.”

Engaging with communities and local organisations, alongside local authorities and regional partners, is essential to the success of SP ENW’s social DSO strategy and efforts to tailor its activities to meet the specific needs of the areas it serves.

Outreach and data sharing

Local collaboration ensures that social DSO initiatives are relevant, effective and responsive to the diverse needs of communities. It also helps build stronger, more sustainable relationships that contribute to long-term social value and scalable social impact.

SP ENW is a key member of the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, a network of around 80 public, private and community sector organisations set up by environmental charity Future Proof Cumbria, the two local unitary authorities, the Lake District National Park and others, to support initiatives designed to enable Cumbria to decarbonise by 2037.

The partnership is funded by the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund, as part of a £2.5 million grant for the Zero Carbon Cumbria programme of projects, which are targeting carbon reductions across four emission sector groups - emissions associated with buildings, transport, food and other products, and with farming and other land use.

“We’re very much taking a place-based approach, with the view to maximising the benefits for local communities to ensure a just transition,” explains John Forbes, Zero Carbon Cumbria project manager, “Organisations like SP ENW are key to helping facilitate and support that transition.”

The team harnessed data from SP ENW’s data portal and its scenario modelling to help map out key emission reduction targets and enable actions related to infrastructure, finance, policy challenges etc.

“We want to do everything we can to use electricity as efficiently as possible. In some cases, where we're switching from gas-fired heating systems to different forms of heat pumps we expect electricity consumption to go up,” says Forbes. “The scenario models were really helpful giving us the expectation that, possibly by 2037, we will have double the consumption of electricity, although hopefully a decarbonised form of electricity.”

“We’re very much taking a place-based approach, with the view to maximising the benefits for local communities to ensure a just transition.”

John Forbes, project manager, Zero Carbon Cumbria

Some of that electricity will be generated by large-scale renewables, some by smaller-scale community renewable technologies. Forbes points to the partnership’s recent support for the Botcherby Community Association, a community centre located in an area of high deprivation, by installing solar panels to reduce its energy costs.

“If there are opportunities for us to generate more community renewables as part of our overall plan towards net zero, that's really helpful, and SP ENW is key to helping us achieve that,” says Forbes, adding that it forms part of a general trend towards creating more opportunities for communities and households to take advantage of the digitalisation of the electricity market.

SP ENW also sponsored the annual Zero Carbon Cumbria Summit, which brought together around 100 delegates from across the partnership to identify the key barriers and solutions to implementing the actions in emission reduction action plans.

“If there are opportunities for us to generate more community renewables as part of our overall plan towards net zero, that's really helpful, and SP ENW is key to helping us achieve that.”

John Forbes, project manager, Zero Carbon Cumbria

Collective insights from the event will help reinforce Cumbria’s commitment to transition to net zero, simultaneously giving SP ENW the confidence to upgrade local grid infrastructure at the pace and scale required to support it and giving local businesses the confidence to invest in renewables as a viable resource.

Connecting schemes into the grid isn’t straightforward, it takes time and involves significant costs. Energy companies have complained of significant delays connecting their green energy projects to the system at a national level.

“There's never enough money or time to deliver those connections at the pace that businesses would want,” explains Miranda Barker OBE, chief executive of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, which has worked closely with SP ENW for several years, sitting on its stakeholder and CEO panels.

Despite these challenges, SP ENW is very “available and accessible” to engage in conversations with local businesses and provide support and advice on how to put decarbonisation measures in place, Barker notes. In addition, the DSO tries to understand how its own actions are affecting attempts to connect, which “enables businesses and SP ENW to be planning far earlier around schemes and timetables,” she adds.

As the DSO model evolves incorporating social and place-based factors, McIntosh points to the need to ensure the benefits are measured to create a baseline of performance. “SP ENW has already demonstrated that it is leading in this space, but there's always the ability to do more and that is difficult without the evidence base, which would help better assess the opportunities for further enhancement,” he says.

Stakeholder engagement and feedback is crucial to driving change and achieving results in all areas of network operation. SP ENW is committed to ensuring its efforts related to social DSO are no different.

A Utility Week Intelligence report, in association with SP Electricity North West