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Network Excellence

Highlighting innovative ways in which networks are maximising efficiency while minimising operational costs

Editor's picks

UKPN opens connections portal for green technology installers
UK Power Networks (UKPN) has launched a new online portal that enables installers to get quicker and easier decisions on whether they can connect green technologies such as electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps, solar panels and batteries. The electricity distribution network said Smart Connect was developed in partnership with Octopus Electric Vehicles in response to feedback from customers, who said the old process was confusing and time-consuming.
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WPD launches ‘industry’s first’ open access data portal
Western Power Distribution has launched an open access online portal offering a “wealth of data” on consumption, generation and loads across its network. The Beta Connected Data Portal is the first of its kind to be launched by a distribution network operator in Great Britain.
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Industrial decarbonisation projects awarded £171m
The government has granted £33 million to the Cadent-backed HyNet North West project as part of a wider £171 million allocation for its industrial decarbonisation strategy, which has also been published. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge funding has been earmarked for engineering and design work on nine projects in Scotland, South Wales, the North West, the Humber region and Teesside.
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Featured

Catch 2050: investing for net zero
Can power network operators deliver the scale and pace of investment needed for net zero without alienating communities or causing environmental detriment? A new report from Utility Week and Hitachi ABB Power Grids explores the challenge.
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Latest in Network Excellence

Weekend Press: Energy efficiency taskforce axed after four meetings
In our latest round-up of the weekend’s national news coverage, the government’s energy efficiency taskforce, charged with reducing the UK’s energy use by 15% by 2030, has been scrapped after just six months and four meetings. Elsewhere, the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) alleges that consumers have effectively overpaid hundreds of millions of pounds for the Moray East wind farm in north-east Scotland, Southern Water faces legal action over floods and Bill Gates raises concerns that his nuclear firm is to be snubbed in the UK modular reactor race.
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Keeping on top: O’Hara’s mission at National Grid
Cordi O’Hara talks to Jane Gray about taking the helm at National Grid Electricity Distribution. She discusses the challenge of stakeholder engagement on a massive scale, bolstering supply chains and accelerating connections.
Interviews
System restoration services open to smaller generators
A wider pool of energy generators can now be called upon to re-energise the grid in the event of partial or complete shutdown. It comes after Ofgem approved a code modification proposal by the Electricity System Operator (ESO) to “provide greater robustness to the system through additional resilience and protection measures and provide additional measures to restore the system in the event of a partial or total shutdown”. In particular, the change provides “opportunities to smaller embedded parties who traditionally would not have been able to participate in system restoration or defence activities”.
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UKPN plans to bolster capacity at 98 substations
Electricity demand is forecast to outstrip current capacity in 98 substation locations run by UK Power Networks (UKPN) within the next five years. In its first ever Distribution Network Options Assessment report, UKPN outlines where and when it needs to secure additional electrical capacity to address forecasted pinch points.
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Looming copper crisis must spark connection rethink
Predicted copper shortage have led to calls for alternative, more efficient ways of hooking up renewable energy schemes to avoid project delays, soaring costs and generation shortages. Former Ofgem senior partner Maxine Frerk told Utility Week that the regulator needs to do more to drive down electrical leaks, while Dominic Quennell, CEO of Enertechnos, has called for the rollout of an alternative cabling system.
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Underground asset map launches in three regions
A pan-utilities underground asset map for the entire country has taken a step closer to becoming a reality, as it launches in three areas. Ahead of its launch Utility Week spoke to the engineers who constructed the map and asset owners who are going to be using it.
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Meet the Innovators: Georges Tijbosch, MiQ
Georges Tijbosch, CEO of methane emissions certification standard for oil and gas, MiQ, discusses the change in momentum behind cutting emissions of ‘CO2’s forgotten sibling’ and how utilities can take inspiration from tech sector agility to tackle ‘physical complexities’.
Interviews
Networks warned not to be complacent on ‘Storm Arwen 2’
An academic has warned energy networks to respect the serendipity of winter storms and ensure they are fully stress-tested for all potential impacts. Professor Keith Bell, of the University of Strathclyde, said that despite electricity distribution networks (DNOs) claiming lessons have been learnt following the devastation caused by Storm Arwen, resilience remains undervalued by some in the sector.
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