Electricity News

Thursday 25 February 2010

MPs said a smart grid would be needed to balance future energy demand and supply

The timely delivery of a smart grid to bring more renewables online requires strategic leadership from the government, MPs have said.

A report from the Energy and Climate Change Committee entitled "The future of Britain's electricity networks" examines the issues that the Committee considers will be integral to the development of a smart grid able to meet Britain's future energy needs.

The report said that an expansion of renewable energy would see a range of technologies connecting to Britain's networks, from roof-top solar panels to large offshore wind farms. These sources of generation cannot respond to fluctuations in energy demand in the same way as coal or gas, it added.

With increased demand expected from electrification of the transport and heating sectors, the Committee said that the only way Britain could respond cost-effectively was to apply a "smarter approach to managing the energy system."

The report said this could occur in a range of ways-from the household level with the use of smart meters to manage customers' energy consumption, through to the high voltage transmission network where generators may need to develop methods of sharing access to the grid.

Chair of the Committee Paddy Tipping MP said that the UK's existing grid infrastructure and policy were developed to serve the fossil fuel economy of the last century, but that "the future looks very different."

"By 2020 the UK electricity network will need to accommodate a far more diverse energy mix that includes a much higher proportion of renewables that cannot respond so easily to fluctuating demand," he said.

"The only cost-effective response to these developments is the creation of a smart grid that intelligently manages demand and supply across the energy system."

Report

In December 2009, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published "Smarter Grids: The Opportunity," which set out its vision of a UK smart grid (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

The Committee noted this work but argued that in taking smart grids forward the government should not adopt a single approach at this stage if it wanted to avoid "locking" the UK into a particular outcome, which may prove expensive or fail to make use of emerging technologies.

It acknowledged that greater and more strategic investment in the grid would be necessary in the coming years but called on the government to investigate the potential to make better use of the existing network.

The Committee highlighted its concern that Ofgem had granted funding for new grid investment projects before such a review could be completed.

The MPs also said they "extremely disappointed" with the lack of a transmission access regime to tackle the queue of 60GW of generation, a large proportion of which is renewables, waiting to connect to the grid.

The report urged DECC to move quickly to implement a regime that will encourage the sharing of grid capacity and prioritise renewables.

It also considered the role of skills in the delivery of a smart grid and expressed concern at the growing shortage of trained people in the networks sector. It warned that without the broad skills of all participants within the sector, the UK faces "a dirtier, more expensive and less efficient future".

The Committee called on Ofgem to do more to ensure the regulatory framework provides the incentives to invest in skills, and for the industry to play its role.

However, it concluded that none of these changes would be possible without a strong role played by the government.

The report stated: "The market alone will not be able to achieve these changes-it requires strategic leadership from Government delivering a vision for the future that engages actively both consumers and the energy sector."