Delivering a net zero-ready grid

As we continue the transition to net zero, data, particularly around the low-voltage (LV) network, will become increasingly important.

New demands on the network from the cars we drive, to the way we heat/cool, or power our homes will change the traditional power flows and role of the electricity network. In many countries, decarbonisation ambitions are now enshrined in legislation and has become a critical feature as we seek to improve energy security, resilience and secure lower costs for citizens in the long term.

A net zero-ready grid

We know that to deliver decarbonisation, there will be a fundamental shift in the way the power flows through, in particular, the Low Voltage electricity networks.

Society can move faster than power networks

We are expecting, and indeed already seeing, big changes in the 2020s as citizens and businesses move towards alternative sources to fuel cars and heat/cool homes.

A typical electric vehicle (EV) or heat pump draws the same amount of power as an electric shower, but these are on for several hours, rather than a few minutes.

Experiential data shows that one EV takes about the same amount of power as one house in a year. That means replacing all cars with EVs (ignoring electrified heat), is roughly the equivalent of having enough capacity for a doubling of the housing stock!

The low-voltage electricity network delivers power to every home, and many businesses, and is fast becoming one of the most important parts of the power grid.

Costs of an aged system

The EU has around 10 million LV feeders, fed from c4.5m distribution substations. The asset life of a typical power network is c40-years, with the design principles more like 80+ years.

This part of the network was traditionally installed on a ‘fit-and-forget’ basis, with the assumption that a future customer looks similar to a customer at the time the network was installed… Possibly reasonable, and provides an efficient network; however, when we realise that many of the cables powering our homes and business were installed in the middle of the 20th century (and a very different time), we can see the problem.

The LV network has a finite capacity, and when this capacity is exceeded, the life expectancy falls off a cliff, increasing the chance of sustained long-term damage. Without intervention, we risk building a much bigger network, which may require extensive disruption and investment of anything from 30-50% of streets being dug up in the next 20 years.

In order to get the most out of the LV network two things are becoming more of a necessity:

• Modelling to show where the capacity exists, and with increased sharing of this data to the public, and
• Monitoring to look in detail at how the demand moves on a daily/weekly/monthly basis in order to allow the network to operate up to (but not beyond) its limit.

The benefits of Modelling

The importance of having modelling of the network right down to the LV level where individual customers are connected has never been greater. Starting from a low base, where many low-voltage networks are either not modelled, or are modelled on a specific piecemeal basis, it is now becoming essential that this model covers the entire network to make it valuable for decision-making.

Data quality can be a problem in some areas, but the key is to work with what is available and seek to improve it, rather than wait for data perfection years down the line. There are various techniques that can be applied to interpolate and make engineering judgments where there are data gaps; which can then be checked and confirmed as data improves.

Once the model is established, it can be used to ascertain where there might be current network constraints, and be used as a powerful tool in analysing scenarios based on changing customer profiles and new connections of customer-side technology (such as electric vehicles) in the future, providing an indication of future investment needs and where hotspots are likely to form.

Beyond these internal uses though, many network companies are beginning to share a version of this model with their customers via web portals. This allows customers to understand available capacity and to self-serve their connection requests for building a new property, or connecting a new ChargePoint to the network, receiving a quote for this connection in a matter of minutes rather than by submitting an application to the network operator and waiting several weeks for the response. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also reduces the burden on the connections department within the utility.

The key to making this a success is presenting the complex engineering that lies in the background in a simple and intuitive format for users to understand and use. EA Technology has worked with several companies to realise this. Examples can be found in the AutoDesign and ConnectMore applications which are live on Northern Powergrid and SP Energy Networks’ websites respectively.

Monitoring solutions are becoming more widespread

By way of example, in Britain, there are c560,000 MV/LV substations. Ten years ago only a fraction of 1% was monitored. We are expecting this to rise to c4% by the end of 2022, and c20% by 2028 (the end of the next Regulatory price control period).

Most of the 100,0000 monitoring deployments planned are expected to be prioritised for substations feeding multiple customers in denser urban areas, (e.g. ground mounted transformers), but all in support of the transition to net zero.

One such monitoring technology, now deployed at scale, is the VisNet^® Hub developed by EA Technology. With over 6,000 installed in British substations (from the first installation in the summer of 2019), the solution measures voltage and current on every LV circuit giving insight into the load, faults, and circuit health information across the network.

It measures three phases, plus neutral for up to six Low Voltage circuits, busbar voltage, and equipment temperature, providing rich information on the performance of the LV feeders and the distribution transformer. The VisNet Hub utilises EA Technology’s Low Voltage Common Application Platform (LV-CAP^®) operating system. 

This allows a network operator to deploy a single hardware unit per substation, incorporating a tailored suite of Apps, analogous to a smartphone, rather than having to deploy multiple devices in each substation with varying functionality and data protocols.

The LV-CAP^® Platform:

• Allows insights to be mined from data locally and consolidated centrally
• Can be combined with a tailored suite of relevant software Apps, allowing operators to distribute intelligence across the network and optimise the data transfer volumes in this data-rich environment
• Provides local intelligence to allow credible decisions to be made

This rounded solution gives network operators the opportunity to have full visibility and control of their LV network, at the most economic price point.

1. Here is the monitoring we have in the Cheshire & Warrington LEP area: Network Visibility near you | Net Zero Cheshire (eatechnology.com). You will need to register, but it’s free to do so.
   1. We have made the transformer demand visible
   1. But, we also have access to the detailed circuit demand (cable by cable) for the circuits running down the roads
2. Here is some of the modelling we are doing with SP Energy Networks ConnectMore Interactive Map – SP Energy Networks. We call it ConnectMore, and I mentioned that a new version will be go live later in Feb/Mar
3. And here, for completeness is
   1. our building decarbonisation website: Building Decarbonisation | Net Zero Cheshire (eatechnology.com)
   1. link to the Invest Net Zero Cheshire website (a strategic masterplanning piece we did, resulting in a series of investable projects for the area) Invest Net Zero Cheshire – Invest Net Zero Cheshire (investnzcheshire.co.uk). We are about to commence a similar exercise for a number of local authorities in North Wales.