About the Author:
Lindsey Allen is a Research Project Coordinator based in the School of Engineering, Newcastle University.
Contact: supergenEN@newcastle.ac.uk
Venue:
We are in the initial stages of arranging the inaugural Supergen Energy Networks Conference which will take place on the 29 and 30 April 2020 in London. We needed to ensure our conference venue was both accessible and inclusive for our diverse community which consists of researchers and academics, as well as industrial and governmental partners.
After investigating a wide range of conference locations we chose IMechE HeadQuarters in Westminster. The venue provides space for a range of different conference activities and its central location is of benefit for our international delegates.
Conference Sessions:
We have over 600 stakeholders in the Supergen Energy Networks Hub, we canvased all our members to gauge interest in contributing to the conference in various ways as well as gauging opinion on relevant session topics that they would most like to see.
Following a meeting in Manchester in January with the conference committee, we decided on a combination of 10 parallel and plenary sessions as illustrated below. We also have an Early Career Researcher (ECR) reception the evening of the 28 April.
Keynote Speakers:
We have confirmed a number of Keynote Speakers:
- Charles Tsai, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Power Assets Holdings
- Mary Suzan Abbo, Managing Director, Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation
- Emma Pinchbeck, Chief Executive, Energy UK
- Rebecca Williams, Head of Policy & Regulation, Renewable UK
- Simon Bennett, Analyst, International Energy Agency
Registration:
Registration for the conference is FREE and is now OPEN. We are also offering a contribution towards travel and accommodation costs for the first 30 Early Career Researchers to register to attend the conference.
For more information and for the draft agenda, please visit our website.
Dr Sara Walker, Supergen Energy Networks Deputy Director and Reader in Energy in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University, will join the judging panel for this year’s Network Awards.
To coincide with her announcement as an award judge, Dr Sara Walker has been interviewed for Network Magazine. In the interview, Sara discusses her hopes for award entries taking a collaborative, whole systems approach.
As an example of such a cross-network collaboration, Sara highlights the demonstrator project at InTEGReL (Integrated Transport Electricity Gas Research Laboratory), where Newcastle University is working with Northern Gas Networks and Northern Powergrid. This demonstrator allows the two networks to be operated and controlled in tandem. The Control Rooms of the Future mini project is using the site to look at questions such as how the two networks talk to each other about their control decisions and whether the control room can work across more than one sector.
In the interview, Sara also talks about how important such cross-network collaborations and increased local renewables are for the UK to meet its 2050 net-zero targets.
See the interview in full in Network Magazine’s 15 November issue. The closing date for entries to the Network Awards is 16 December 2019.
The go-to conference for network innovation
Date/Time: 30 -31 October 2019, 08:30 – 16:30
Venue: SEC, Glasgow
The ninth annual Low Carbon Networks & Innovation Conference at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow will be taking place at the end of October 2019.
LCNI is the go-to conference for network innovation and which sets the industry’s progression towards a secure, sustainable and affordable smart grid.
The conference showcases key projects awarded under the NIA and NIC funding mechanisms. This year’s energy focus is on electricity and features empowering new energy innovators as the underpinning theme.
For further information visit the LCNI website, including the current Conference Programme.
About the Author:
Ian Hower is a research associate in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture & Engineering at Newcastle University. With a background in policy, Ian’s research surrounds the policy and market frameworks for the UK energy system.
Contact details: supergenEN@newcastle.ac.uk
Supergen Energy Networks Hub brought together a group of stakeholders in May 2019 to discuss the future of energy markets and regulation. The stakeholders included:
- academia such as Professor Furong Li of the University of Bath and Professor Michael Pollitt of the University of Cambridge
- regulators such as Marcia Poletti of Ofgem
- industry representatives including Chris Harris of NPower and Nigel Turvey of Western Power Distribution
- early career researchers (ECRs) from University of Oxford, Imperial College and University of Bath
Each presenter gave a slightly different view on the same theme. They acknowledged the need for increased flexibility, the challenge of decarbonising heat, power and transport, and the current barriers to creating an efficient and renewable future energy system posed by current pricing and regulatory challenges. Each also put forward their view of research activities and forward thinking how best to overcome some of the barriers.
Marcia Poletti of Ofgem highlighted the principal foci for regulating the energy industry going forward; independent decision making, broader consumer protection and greater use of markets and price signals. Regulators are especially interested in the information behind the price signals as the data indicate where investment and regulation are needed. They expect significant movement toward more granular data and thus more granular pricing.
In this evolution, not only will massive changes need to be made to physical infrastructure, but questions about who will have access to data, markets and prices will also need to be addressed. For consumers to fully engage in demand side response, they need to be exposed to the sharp price signals. To aid this, Chris Harris of NPower argued that there should be a liberalisation of who can contract with whom, but cautioned that this process must be done slowly to prevent a free-for-all and unjust market capture. He also advocated that prosumer contracts should be fed into balancing and settlement, for the same reasons wholesale energy contracts are included in balancing and settlement.
This begs the question of how best to ‘liberalise’ the market to allow more granular price signals to reach consumers, while ensuring equity and justice. How can we both liberalise the market while also ensuring the market is fully incentivised to meet the ‘Net Zero’ emission targets?
Attempting to harmonize how future retailers can understand customers’ network needs and optimise capacity at least cost, Harris argued that demand side response (DSR) is the number one priority for Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and the wider system going forward. Harris critiqued the techno-optimist view that technology alone can successfully address climate change, arguing there are no models, predictions or calculations that get us to the 2050 carbon goals without significant demand side response. To achieve this, Harris suggests that we must develop decentralised democratised markets to meet the evolving needs of energy supply and demand. In doing so, he suggested changes in both the regulatory market architecture and culture that would move the UK away from price socialisation, something that resonates with Ofgem’s call for increased price signals and competition.
Nigel Turvey of Western Power Distribution (WPD) discussed how DNOs will adapt to this new future, and the plans for preventing possible conflicts of interest between asset solutions and the use of third-party flexibility by separating DSO activities into a separate management structure.
Michael Pollitt also gave insights into his current thinking on ancillary service markets, namely that companies operating in this space need to be more transparent and that there should be more oversight of this. Pollitt was especially concerned about the dual impact of domestic PV and wider adoption of EVs on the burden of fixed costs. He discussed research which showed those with solar will pay a lower portion of the system’s fixed costs under current charging methodologies.
Pollitt’s broad argument acknowledged that the UK is one of the few countries to have a fully privatised energy network, and thus the massive changes that are coming to the industry need to coincide with regulators ensuring that the benefits of these changes are equitably distributed to consumers and society, not just shareholders. He also emphasised that the benefits of a faster, smarter connection need to be shared out better, in a way that all parties, (particularly DNOs and wider society) clearly benefit.
Furong Li discussed how network capacity could be provided under differing demand flexibility and uncertainty, to underpin a new philosophy in network access arrangement in a highly uncertain energy future. She highlighted key drivers for the new philosophy as flexibility shifting from the central to regional and local system, and an increase in instruments in providing distribution network capacity. Li identified a number of key research questions:
- How to factor differing capacity provisions/increased optional efficiency into network pricing?
- How to quantify ‘value of wait’ for an investment option with differing/changing levels of generation and load uncertainty?
- How to quantify/estimate current and future operational capability from differing degrees of network and customer flexibility?
- What are the key drivers to determine the right balance between cost recovery from network investment and network operation?
ECRs were also given the opportunity to present their latest research findings in flexibility markets:
- Thomas Morstyn – on liquidity and granularity questioning whether prosumers can provide flexibility for the system, and emphasising the importance of markets staying interconnected.
- Dimitrios Papadaskalopoulos – on assessing the value of flexibility, and the modelling needed to move from a centralised to a distributed optimisation. He highlighted the dangers of group think as illustrated by the 01.30 peak that emerged with the introduction of Economy 7.
- Antonio de Paola – on the capability of thermostatic loads acting in energy frequency markets.
Ran Li – on the importance of price elasticity in electricity supply, or the lack of it! He believed that attitudes and technological change were key.
Overall, the themes that arose from the event surrounded the massive changes anticipated for the system, and how best to prepare with minimise energy cost and carbon emissions through energy transition.
- There are significant shortcomings in the current market, network access and regulation, and missing market components to minimise the cost of low carbon transition, cope with uncertainty, and ensuring customers benefits
- Interestingly, both Harris and Pollitt – and later the rest of the attendees – agreed that the biggest technical challenge facing the UK is the decarbonisation of heat, where electrical systems could play a key role.
- In Harris’ words, the substantial energy policy decision of our generation is “what gas will flow through what pipes in 2050”.
- Meanwhile, the transition to renewable sources of energy in the power and transport sectors are already well underway.
- To help encourage these positive changes – and to ensure that the benefits are spread equitably throughout society – proper pricing, access to network and regulations are needed.
- Various ideas for what form these pricing methods and regulations should take were put forth, including new ways of capturing costs currently omitted from pricing methods such as carbon emissions and constraint costs.
It also became clear through the course of the event that the various players in the industry will have to work together on a deeper level than they do today. To fully extract the benefits of a carbon-neutral energy industry, players will have to collaborate to fully engage each other’s efficiencies and flexibilities to help ensure security of supply and decarbonisation, while also helping contribute to the economy and keeping costs down for consumers. However, underpinning all of this is the primary concern expressed by all stakeholders was that everyone must work to ensure that this increase in collaboration, marketisation, and decarbonisation provides real and noticeable benefits to every corner of the UK.
Further information on the workshop and access to presentations can be found here.
About the Authors:
Jianzhong Wu is a Professor of Multi-Vector Energy Systems and Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Cardiff University.
He is Co-Director of Supergen Energy Networks Hub , Co-Director of INCOSE UK Energy Systems Interest Group, a member of Wales Smart Energy System Group, the Scottish Power Energy Networks Strategic Stakeholder Panel for England and Wales, and the Academic Promotions Committee of Cardiff University.
Contact details: WuJ5@cardiff.ac.uk Prof. Jianzhong Wu’s Profile
Karolina Rucinska is a PhD student and a research assistant at Cardiff University and provides administrative support to the Hub at Cardiff University.
Contact details: RucinskaKA@cardiff.ac.uk Miss Karolina Rucinska’s Profile
The energy trilemma (energy security, environmental impact and social cost) present various complex interconnected challenges. These challenges extend throughout the UK and have a significant international bearing. There is vast diversity in challenges faced regionally due to historical, geographic, political, economic and cultural reasons. As technology and society change so do these challenges. Therefore energy networks planning, design and operation need to adapt.
Whole-systems approach to energy networks research is not considered the norm. Comprehensive knowledge of the interconnected and interdependent nature of energy network infrastructure is simply not available. The recent development of local energy systems and global energy internet bring further uncertainties and challenges to the development of our energy systems.
Currently, there is a lack of:
modelling experience and skills replicable models commercial software awareness of the value of integrated multi-energy networks in the UK
To better understand the relationships among different energy vector networks, ICT, policy, markets, and risk need to shape future energy development. Through understanding how external factors may lead to significant changes in the way energy networks behave, we can plan and operate accordingly.
To address the issues above the EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub and the INCOSE UK Energy Systems Interest Group hosted a joint workshop to investigate modelling for Integrated Multi-Energy Networks. The workshop on the 12th April saw 31 invited participants from academia, government, industry and independent organisations come together to share current best practices in multi-energy system modelling and to discuss how to tackle the barriers and identify innovation gaps.
The first session of the workshop, chaired by Prof Jianzhong Wu from Cardiff University, was devoted to sharing experiences and practices of modelling. It provided an insight into the challenges of modelling complex systems while giving examples of new tools, models and projects. There were several interesting presentations by:
- BEIS (Dr Noramalina Mansor, top left photo),
- Energy Systems Catapult (Dr David Wyatt, bottom right),
- West and Wales Utilities (Mr Chris Clark, top right photo), and
academia (Prof Mark Barret, UCL; Prof. Goran Strbac, bottom left photo, Imperial College London; Dr Sara Walker, Newcastle University and Dr Meysam Qadrdan, Cardiff University).
The second session considered how to tackle some of the pressing challenges, difficulties and uncertainties faced by energy systems modellers and the wider community. This session helped to identify research gaps, questions and potential research topics within energy networks.
There were lots of open discussions led by Professor Phil Taylor, Director of the Supergen Energy Networks Hub on how to move forward in terms of research and practice within energy networks modelling.
The suggestions were to focus on demonstration projects, modelling of extreme events as well as the design of simpler but interconnected models among other things. Moving forward, the participants expressed an interest in another set of such workshops, with a focus on balancing the needs of the local and national systems.
The Supergen Programme represents our commitment to fund fundamental research that will accelerate the move to a low-carbon energy future.
Jenny Hill, Chair of the Supergen High Level Group
Today sees the formal launch of the latest phase of Supergen, UK Research and Innovation’s flagship programme to deliver coordinated research on sustainable energy generation, supply, distribution and use.
The Supergen Energy Networks Hub leads the programme’s work on energy networks. Led by Hub Director, Professor Phil Taylor, Head of School of Engineering at Newcastle University, the Hub brings together the diverse and vibrant energy networks community, from academia, industry and government. We aim to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions and inter-dependencies of energy networks.
The four research hubs that comprise the energy programme will welcome members of parliament, policy makers and industry representatives to the meeting hosted by James Heappey MP at Portcullis House, to look at the challenges associated with reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and implementing a sustainable energy system.
Attendees will hear from representatives of the research hubs and funding councils about previous research, the history of successful investment and the interactions between research and industry.
A panel of industry leaders will discuss questions such as what skills are needed for a decarbonised society, what trading opportunities a low-carbon economy offers and what regulation and governance changes are needed to accelerate the UK’s move to a low-carbon energy system.
The Government, with UK research funding councils, has committed to furthering UK excellence in energy research through sustained funding of Supergen, which now represents one of the UK Government’s largest single investments in fundamental research on low-carbon energy generation, sustainable networks and use.
The latest phase comprises four multidisciplinary research consortia: Supergen ORE (Offshore Renewable Energy), Supergen Bioenergy, Supergen Energy Networks and Supergen SuperSolar. The hubs work to connect academia, industry, policy and public stakeholders, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and resources to support the development of sustainable energy systems in the UK and beyond.
Chair of the Supergen High Level Group, Jenny Cooper, comments: “The Supergen Programme represents our commitment to fund fundamental research that will accelerate the move to a low-carbon energy future. This event provides the hub with a platform to connect with policy makers, demonstrate their successes to date and position sustainable energy high on the political agenda.”
Achieving Government targets of net-zero emissions by 2050 will require contributions from a variety of renewable resources and conversion technologies deployed across a range of demand sectors. The combined efforts of the Supergen hubs and the energy programme will be critical in achieving this.
About the hubs
Despite their vital importance to the UK’s energy sector, industry and society, there is no current whole systems approach to studying the interconnected and interdependent nature of energy network infrastructure and the challenges it faces. The Supergen Energy Networks Hub will establish a vibrant, well-connected, diverse, open and communicative energy networks community with a deeper understanding of whole systems approaches to energy networks.
The Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub provides research leadership to connect academia, industry, policy and public stakeholders, inspire innovation and maximise societal value in offshore wind, wave and tidal energy.
The SuperSolar Hub is a complementary mix of researchers within the photovoltaics (PV) field in the UK, with internationally recognised expertise. By working together and engaging with industry, the SuperSolar Hub has played a crucial role in the development of perovskites as exciting Third Generation PV materials that are now on the cusp of commercial realisation.
Research within the Supergen Bioenergy Hub looks at the whole bioenergy chain, examining the characteristics and potential of different biomass and feedstocks, developing pre-treatment and conversion processes and identifying the best ways to deliver bioenergy. It also takes a holistic view of energy systems, assessing the role and impact of bioenergy on them and on related sectors. The hub’s research is underpinned by strong engagement with industry, policy and societal stakeholders.
The role of UK energy research hubs and centres in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from UK energy supply
The UK Government has made significant investments into essential research for low-carbon energy production and sustainable distribution. The Supergen (SUstainable PowER GENeration and supply) Programme was established in 2001 by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and has just moved into its 4th phase.
This £16 million phase comprises of the following 4 multidisciplinary research hubs
- Supergen Energy Networks Hub
- Supergen Bioenergy Hub
- Supergen Offshore (marine, wave and tidal) Renewable Energy Hub
- Solar energy network
Each hub will not only interact with academics but will also include crucial engagement with the wider energy sector including national and international industry, government, trade association partners, policy and public stakeholders.
A joint Houses of Parliament launch event, hosted by James Heappey MP, will take place on Monday 17th June 2019. The event will introduce the Hubs and their work to a select audience and highlight the important research that has already been carried out. The launch will also provide a valuable opportunity to network and contribute to the future work carried out.
A full press release will be available after the event.
Bringing industry and academia together, the EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub intends to provide a network centric multi-vector approach to our energy needs.
“Our article discusses our future energy needs and how, with the interaction of both academics and industry, we can provide an interdisciplinary approach to understand, shape and challenge the whole energy network infrastructure”
Dr Susan C Scholes
Dr Susan C Scholes, Dr Sara L Walker and Professor Phil Taylor have recently produced an interesting article published in the May (2019) edition of Network Magazine, page 17. The magazine is available free on line with a free Networks.online subscription.
The article discusses energy networks and the technological, societal and environmental challenges they face. It also provides more information about the Supergen Energy Network Hub, its aims and area of focus.
The Hub would love to hear from anyone currently working in the energy networks space or considering doing so.
To join the Hub community or to find out more about the Supergen Energy Networks Hub, please contact our team by email at supergenEN@newcastle.ac.uk.
Prof Phil Taylor discusses whole energy systems and the integration of Hydrogen
Prof Phil Taylor from Newcastle University is the Supergen Energy Networks Hub Lead, Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration (CESI) and Siemens Professor on Energy. He delivered a seminar on the ‘Latest Developments in Green Hydrogen in the UK’ at the Technical Seminar on Hydrogen Economy in Hong Kong.
His talk discussed whole energy systems and how Hydrogen would fit into it within the UK on its journey to becoming NetZero by 2050.
Markets and Regulation play a critically important role in facilitating the development of intelligent, efficient, adaptive and open energy networks within which both existing and new energy players can profit. This requires continued innovation in commercial and regulatory frameworks that promotes whole-system efficiency, resilience to withstand major societal, technical and environmental shifts.
This workshop took place on 14th May 2019 at the London campus of the University of Bath. The meeting was attended by representatives from major energy providers, the regulator Ofgem, and academics with expertise in the energy sector.
Aims:
This workshop aimed to support the Hub in setting the broad research direction in Markets and Regulation for energy networks. The intention was to bring together key stakeholders from the energy industry to achieve the following key objectives:
- identify short and long term issues in the current markets and regulation in delivering low cost, low carbon and adaptive energy systems
- prioritise the short-term and long-term market and regulatory issues in the UK
- identify possible approaches for knowledge exchange and for the industry and regulator to support and assess academic research
Topics included:
key limitations with the current commercial and regulatory arrangements – industry and academic views
identifying emerging research challenges, and the future direction of the research for the Hub
identify collaboration strategies between industry and the academic Hub
Outcomes:
The key outcomes from the workshop will form a white paper to inform the government and the industrial and academic communities on the key challenges faced in markets and regulation of future energy networks, and the research approaches proposed to tackle them.
Presentations:
C Harris npower presentation
M Polletti Ofgem presentation
M Pollitt University of Cambridge presentation
N Turvey Western Power Distribution presentation