Paul Cosgrove from Arup gives a whistle stop tour of the history of energy management in the UK and presents the current challenges and what can be done to address them.

1. June 2015
Energy
A National Perspective

2. The early days…

3. 3
3 Evolution of the National Grid
1932-1937:
• Central Electricity Board (CEB) established to link power stations
with consumers via a 'national gridiron'
• 132kV network interconnected regional grids in the Central Scotland
and Mid-East England areas.
• Small and inefficient power stations are being closed down.
• Seven grid areas are created to cover the UK, with control rooms at
Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, London and
Glasgow.
• The Electricity Supply (Meters) Act 1936 makes provision for the
certifying and examination of electricity meters
• 1937: All areas of the Grid first coupled together as a single unit

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4 Evolution of the National Grid

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5 Evolution of the National Grid
• 1944: 2 out of 3 houses with electricity connections – the
doubling in 10 years
• 1949-1961: cross-Channel power link completed with
France, but the link was often damaged by ship's anchors.
• 1950: Beginning of 275kV supergrid development to meet
demand with 400kV future capacity.
• 1950: The first electric storage heaters became available.
• 1951: Experimental heat pump commissioned at the Royal
Festival Hall driven by two Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft
engines and the River Thames as a heat source.

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6 Evolution of the National Grid
• The system was operated via distributed control centres

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7 Evolution of the National Grid
Early nimbyism…
• 1950s: British farmer Dudley Glanfield of Surrey
prevents the Electricity Board from putting giant
electrical pylons on his land by patrolling with a
shot gun.

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8 Evolution of the National Grid
1975: For the first time, demand
reduces. 23 power stations closed.

9. 9
9 Evolution of the National Grid
1982: The CEGB
installs the UK’s first
wind turbine plant at
Camarthen Bay in South
Wales

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10 Evolution of the National Grid
1986: 2000MW interconnector
between France and England is
commissioned- the largest
submarine line in the world at
the time

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1990: Electricity industry restructured and
then privatised.
1990: National Grid Company plc takes
ownership and control of the transmission
system and joint ownership of the
interconnectors with Scotland and France
1995: ‘dash for gas’ begins and the grid
has to accommodate the new technology
of combined cycle gas turbines.
1996: The Electricity National Control
Centre in Wokingham is now operating
the UK system, replacing the seven
regional control centres

12. Current challenges…

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13 Current challenges… Balancing Supply & Demand
Source: DECC

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14 Current challenges… Balancing Supply & Demand
Source: National Grid

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15 Current challenges… Balancing Supply & Demand
Source: National Grid
‘Go Green’ Scenario

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16 Current challenges… Balancing Supply & Demand
Source: National Grid
‘Go Green’ Scenario
Capacity Margin

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17 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction
Source:
Bristol CO2 Emissions =
5,814 tonnes/day
Enough to fill a sphere 181 metres in diameter

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18 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction
Achieving 80% CO2 Reduction by 2050
UK Government target for the built environment vs 1990 baseline
Source: Arup | WRAP | Green
Construction Board
UK Built Environment Low Carbon Route Map

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19 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction & Security of supply
Source: DECC

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20 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction & Security of supply
Source: DECC
UK Progress
2013: 5.1%
2014: 7.0%
2013/14 Average: 6.3%
Average interim target: 5.4%.
2020 EU Target: 20% of energy from renewables by 2020

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21 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction & Security of supply
Source: DECC
The UK has 5GW of solar PV capacity, with almost 99% of the
capacity
£11.4 billion investment in the Solar PV between 2010 and 2014.

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22 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction & Security of supply
Source: DECC
Around 5% of the UK’s electricity comes from onshore wind,
by 2020 this could double to about 10%
…except… UK Government have announced removal of
onshore wind from subsidy programmes

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23 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction + Security of supply
Source: DECC
The UK has more offshore wind than any other country.
It is estimated that the sector attracted £9.5 billion of investment
between 2010 and 2014.

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24 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction + Security of supply
Proposed Kepler Energy Severn Estuary Tidal Fence – 30MW
Source: DECC
Swansea Tidal Lagoon – 320MW

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25 Current challenges… + Carbon Reduction + Security of supply

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26 Current challenges… + a Constrained Grid
Source: Western Power Distribution
• 7.8 Million Customers
• 220,000km of Network
• 185,000 Substations
At 2015
Connected generation capacity  4.7GW
• South West  1.4GW
Committed generation capacity  8.9GW
• South West  1.8GW
Offered capacity  4.5GW
• South West  0.7GW
South West Projected  3.9GW (2.6GW Solar PV)
South West Maximum Demand
• Winter  2.5GW; Summer  1GW
Current delay of 3-6 years for those requiring works at HV to enable connection
Many constraints on the network and upfront investment restricted by OFGEM
Supply:Demand mis-match with Solar PV peak generation at midday and in summer

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27 Current challenges… + a Constrained Grid

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28 Current challenges… + Affordability
Source: DECC
Average UK fuel prices increased by 24% between
2009 and 2013.
Compared to a consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate of 13.8 %.
2020 fuel price projections indicate the trend
will only continue…

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29 Current challenges… + Affordability
• 90 % of households in the UK
remain customers of the Nig 6
suppliers - British Gas, SSE,
ScottishPower, E.On, EDF Energy
and Npower.
15 years after the UK energy market
was liberalised…
Market competitiveness has increased
beyond the Big 6 suppliers, with
reduced rates and cash incentives to
switch.. but…
Consumer trust is a large factor

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30 Current challenges… + Affordability
Source: Myutilitygenius

31. The future of our system…

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32 The future… A Smarter Grid
The way we generate,
distribute and consume energy
is changing.

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33 The future… A Smarter Grid
Centralised

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34 The future… A Smarter Grid
Centralised + Decentralised | Distributed

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35 The future… A Smarter Grid
Centralised + Decentralised | Distributed + Smart

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36 The future… Smart Metering

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37 The future… Energy storage

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38 The future… Heat Network Growth

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39 The future… Electricity to gas conversion
Integration of electricity and gas grids - Electricity to hydrogen conversion and use of the national gas grid to
transmit energy

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40 The future… Biogas to grid
Bio-methane production from biogas and injection into the national gas grid

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41 The future… Growing Interconnections

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42 The future… Open-data
Source: Arup | WRAP | Green
Construction Board
Source:

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43 The future… Open-data
From spring 2015 the centre of Bristol will be home to three new fast networks: in the ground;
bouncing from lamppost to lamppost and connecting wirelessly along the Brunel Mile.
http://www.bristolisopen.com/

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44 The future… Open-data

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45 The future… Open-data

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46 The future… Prosumers and peer to peer energy trading
The emergence of ‘prosumers’ and peer to peer trading

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47 The future… Big data performance optimisation analytics

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48 The future… The internet of things
Bristol becomes an internet of things test-bed with the ‘hypercat-initiative’

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49 The future… Being bold to innovate
Being bold to innovate…
The World Wide Web Invented in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners (CERN) – a concept initially dubbed “Vague but exciting”