Smart meter-based voltage optimisation to trial in northern England
Image: Northern Powergrid
Northern Powergrid is trialling the use of real-time smart meter data led voltage optimisation with 15,000 homes and businesses in Yorkshire.
The trial, named the Boston Spa Energy Efficiency Trial (BEET) after its location in the village of Boston Spa and surrounding areas including the town of Wetherby, involves the use of the so-called ‘BEET-Box’ to turn the voltage up or down, based on smart meter data, to the level that appliances need to work most efficiently.
The BEET-Box, developed with input from voltage control specialist Fundamentals, GE Digital, Siemens and the University of Sheffield, applies an algorithm to the smart meter data on a near real-time basis on which the voltage can be optimised, with reductions leading to energy savings and in turn bill savings.
Northern Powergrid has estimated that trial participants should save an average £28 ($35) on their annual energy bills along with a carbon footprint reduction of 20kg per year.
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“BEET is a fantastic example of how we’re innovating today to deliver future benefits for our customers,” comments Mark Callum, Smart Grid Development Manager at Northern Powergrid.
“We are trialling technology that can help us increase the efficiency of our network for our customers, whilst reducing their carbon footprint and overall energy consumption. It could also bring us one step closer to decarbonising the region, by enabling the introduction of more low carbon technologies, like electric vehicles and solar panels, onto the grid.”
With network operators typically running their system within the top end of the voltage range to ensure it does not drop below the lower limit if demand surges, the concept of voltage optimisation, or conservation voltage reduction, is not new.
But its implementation with smart meter data appears to be and Northern Powergrid’s investigation was the suggestion of local resident Keith Jackson, a retired engineer from the electricity industry, who has said the possible solution came to him after having suffered excess voltage at his home and his subsequent finding that the network regulations do not incentivise such voltage trimming.
With the concept particularly beneficial for vulnerable customers, Northern Powergrid is prioritising the rollout of the solution to areas with increased levels of fuel poverty.
If the trial is successful, then it could be rolled out across the majority of its network spanning northeast England, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire by 2033.
Findings also will be shared with other network operators, with a national scale-up estimated to have the potential to deliver annual carbon savings of 1.1Mt and consumer bill cuts of up to £770 million.
