SSEN receives funding for data-driven decarbonisation projects
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Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has announced financing for two of its innovation projects, both of which explore how data is handled for community decarbonisation.
Two of the British utility’s innovation projects have, between them, received almost £6 million ($8.1 million) from Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund.
The VERIFY project will combine data on networks, homes, demographics, and smart meters to inform network investment, while the D2I (Data to Insights) project aims to remove barriers to data.
VERIFY
Project VERIFY is being worked on by SSEN alongside partners at CGI, Quarriers, Aberdeen City Council, DCC, E.ON, SGN, Smith Institute and the Centre for Sustainable Energy, as well as subcontractors Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, University of Reading and Cranfield University.
The project won £5.3 million ($7.2 million) in new financing and builds on two previous SSEN-led projects that used data to identify vulnerable households and introduced the concept of using data on vulnerability to inform network design.
Commenting in a release was Simon O’Loughlin, VERIFY’s project manager: “This new project combines these two principles; we’ll now be applying what we’ve learned at scale, refining our techniques, and taking our ability to plan new networks with the specific needs of the customers they’ll serve as a priority.
“Our goal is to ensure people get the benefits of the low-carbon transformation, irrespective of where they live, and no matter their own circumstances. Over the next three years, VERIFY will bring together the best minds in their fields to create a service that can be used by networks like ours, as well as energy suppliers, charities, and local authorities. Working across sectors enables faster, better, and more effective support for households during emergencies, power cuts and even at times of financial need.”
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Data to Insights
The D2I project, receiving £499,820 ($678,191), is being coordinated alongside project partners Energy Systems Catapult, CGI, University of Strathclyde and Roadnight Taylor.
According to SSEN in a release, new digital technology offers Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) the opportunity to make services smarter and more efficient, so it becomes easier for people to use the vast volume of data available.
Removing the barriers that hinder access to this data means customers will be able to access the data they need. This ease of use means investment decisions can be sped up.
To do so, D2I will provide a step-change in how DNOs engage with data thanks to advances in AI and other digital technologies.
The project will remove technical barriers currently preventing people from gaining greater data insights and use new modelling to better understand how to handle data more efficiently.
Said Cori Critchlow-Watton, Data to Insight’s project manager: “The better we can understand and harness the power of our data, the better we can apply its insights to the process of decarbonising our communities, and our economy.
“Better insights will help reduce the cost of managing data, help inform connections requests (with a corresponding reduction in those made speculatively) and we already know data visibility is critical in giving us the best picture of network capacity.”
These two SSEN Distribution innovation projects have been successful at the Strategic Innovation Fund’s ‘Beta’ and ‘Alpha’ phases.
The Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
