The Road to Net Zero needs collaboration and customer focus

Like most, the past 12 weeks have been very different for me. Work has continued though I have been working from home and meetings have gone virtual. I have joined the nation in channelling my inner Mary Berry to hone my banana bread baking skills. Re-kindled my passion for gardening, using google for tips on how to take care of my new leafy friends. Binge watched the sporting triumphs of ‘The Last Dance’ on Netflix. Laughed at the barrage of memes and GIFs coming through on WhatsApp. Taken up virtual workouts with friends, which have replaced field hockey matches and spin classes and were introduced mainly to keep up with the new flair for baking. And it is now commonplace that catch ups with family and friends are over Zoom involving quizzes and bubbles.

Among my new ways of work and home life, I realise that I have benefitted from the advancements and transformations in engineering, technology and digital services which have had a profound impact on enabling myself and my loved ones to stay connected, keep entertained and maintain healthy lifestyles.

This gives me great encouragement and excitement to see how the customer, technical and commercial innovations underway in the energy sector will facilitate the achievement of net zero and positively change the lives of people and society. 

Net Zero – my role

My role at UK Power Networks is focused on contributing to the UK's road to Net Zero. I oversee smart grid infrastructure projects that are enabling our 18 million customers to go green. The role centres on collaboration, applied innovation, and a customer-centred approach. The challenge to reach net zero is so big that none of us can possibly meet it alone, that’s why collaboration and listening to our customers forms such a big part of my work.

Underpinning my current work responsibilities is leading the Low Voltage (LV) Visibility & Control programme which will support electric vehicle, renewable and low carbon heat growth that customers have told us they value.

I also oversee the mobilisation of a multi-million pound programme to upgrade the communication network across our substations to make them more intelligent and flexible so they can enable more low carbon technologies and energy resources.

Work continues for me and my team during COVID-19. It has called for us to reimagine the way we can do things. I am very lucky to work with a team that are cohesive and willing to adapt, and embrace changes so quickly. For example, we have evolved our testing practices, working in partnership with our LV Visibility equipment collaborators, and moved our Site Acceptance Testing run-throughs from physical to virtual sessions. This is where colleagues’ Skype in to the equipment vendors manufacturing site and run through the test sheets remotely.

We carry on with our smart grid infrastructure programmes, and as we deliver, I believe continued focus is needed in two key areas for us to reach our decarbonisation goal.

1. Collaborating and Learning from others

No goal can be achieved alone. This stands true in us meeting and capturing the opportunities from the UK Net Zero emission target.

A quote of my husband’s I love is ‘the future is already here, it is just somewhere else’. During times of change, listening, engaging and sharing with others is vital. We must look beyond our own geographies and sectors.

A usual day for me involves speaking and collaborating with colleagues from across UK Power Networks, and working in partnership with external collaborators ranging from technology businesses, equipment manufacturers, academia and local organisations.

There hasn’t been a single day of my career that didn’t involve speaking to others and collaborating. In recent years I have been supporting UK Power Networks at a global utility working group to share knowledge and best practices. I also coordinate and bring together our smart grid activities in support of the international study, Smart Grid Index that helps utilities measure and advance in key dimensions of grid development. UK Power Networks currently has the 2nd ‘smartest’ grid in the world and 1st smartest in Europe, rated by Singapore Powers international study. Our success in the rankings is testament to the work my team is leading; having a smart grid is crucial to achieving a net zero UK as quickly and cheaply as possible.

2. ‘Net Zero for All’ - bringing customers along the journey

As we make strides to the UK Net Zero emission target it is vital that we build an energy system that brings all customers along the journey. We need to navigate a careful balance between sustainability, affordability and security of supply, particularly within the context of households managing through the impact of COVID-19. 

It is important we zero in and ensure everyone can benefit from the energy transition, and that we support and protect our vulnerable customers. Therefore listening to our customers will remain a key part of my work in the road to Net Zero.

Back in 2017 when we published our Future Smart Strategy LV Visibility was one of the key asks from our stakeholders and it’s remained a key enabler in the EV Readiness Strategy and our industry first Heat Strategy published at the start of the year. Network visibility gives us unparalleled insights into how the network is running so we can optimise network infrastructure that in turn will facilitate customers to connect and more flexibly manage their green resources.

More recently customers have asked us to go beyond devices and explore the use of data to achieve network visibility for less. Therefore in our approach to increase network visibility at the low voltage network we will pull on a smart toolkit that includes a range of solutions, LV Monitoring devices, smart meter capabilities, data from 3rd parties e.g. smart EV chargers and grid edge devices. This will enable us to undertake least regret activity to achieve network visibility cost-effectively helping our customers to choose green, connect green and flexibly manage green.

Devices and Data will continue to play a key enabler for Net Zero and the opening up of our data and tools will play a pivotal role in bringing customers along the journey and where customers can also help industry to achieve Net Zero in sharing their insights back. I encourage readers to check out our new Open Data portal and also participate in our "The Charge" Challenge where we are asking customers to identify locations within UK Power Networks’ areas that may have large numbers of concentrated EV Charge Points installed in the next 5 years.