Flexible Fund Call: Acceleration
Responding to the Climate Emergency: How Can Energy Networks Research Accelerate Progress Towards Net Zero Energy Systems?
In response to a renewed urgency from policymakers and the Industrial Advisory Committee to achieve 78% reductions in emissions by 2035, SEN designed a new Flex Fund call with a focus on accelerating change. This call invited researchers to submit a funding proposal for a project or activity that can be delivered within 12-months and produce research that aims to analyse and develop ways in which energy networks can accelerate progress towards net zero energy systems and/or to examine the impacts and risks of such energy network developments on the economy and society.
Newcastle University
Turning accelerated decarbonization challenge into an investment opportunity:
Port of Tyne case study
Energy sector decarbonization poses significant challenges to networks and customers. First, ubiquitous electrification will triple energy
flows in electricity networks. Second, sole customer decarbonization provides limited investment return. To resolve both,DNOs started
facilitating customer flexibility. Emerging revenue streams from local energy trading and distribution ancillary services are aimed to
stimulate demand-side decarbonization; however, immaturity of markets does not allow performing informed investment planning.
Practically, network customers decarbonize slowly to minimize losses from uncertainties. To accelerate demand-side decarbonization,
we propose a multi-agent and multi-market framework for informed (exogenous) customer investment planning cognizant of the
opportunities and limitations of future energy systems
