Issue link: https://read.utilityweek.co.uk/i/808182
NETWORK / 14 / APRIL 2017 Simon Harrison Speaking exclusively to Utility Week Live, Simon Harrison states that transformation in the utility sector is being driven by the need to cut costs and by the demand coming from the increasingly tech savvy consumers. Harrison has a pan-infrastructure perspective due to his work with Mott MacDonald, but has a focus on energy as a result of his role with the Institute of Engineering and Technology. Within this, he chairs the Future Power System Architecture Project, a collaboration for the UK government between the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Energy Systems Catapult. This project looks at how more renewables can be added seamlessly onto the system, alongside more small scale generation and storage at a distribution level, and how smarter systems will evolve as the rise of the prosumer continues. A critical aspect to this work is increasing the communication between the traditional infrastructure-based utilities, and those in the "edge of grid area and beyond the meter". "The world of utilities where everything has to be secure and take a long time to plan and deliver." It has "all the constraints we're very familiar with," says Harrison. "On the consumer side of the meter, especially where the technology companies are getting involved, it's a totally different picture. Everything moves very fast, the pace is the pace of tech development rather than the pace of infrastructure and that presents an enormous challenges." Tackling these challenges is where Harrison, and the other UWL transformers, come in to drive the debate and push forward potential solutions. Harrison is keen to unite these two different sides of the utility arena. This mission is aided by a growing appetite and desire for it from government and industry. "People are seeing and feeling change, and its opening minds to a whole bunch of new things," Harrison states. Getting the steadier, infrastructure world, and the faster paced consumer world working together is essential for the future. "It's not that one is less relevant than the other," Harrison says. "The future is all about them working together and if they fail to work together, at best it's a massive lost opportunity and at worst it's a significant risk." The result of preserving the essential service, and adapting to new consumer and technology demands is increased system flexibility. This will see the sector transform from its traditional, vertically integrated model, to a more decentralised one, able to cope with prosumers and more active system management. PROFILE Group strategic development manager, Mott MacDonald; and chair of energy policy panel, IET tEchnOLOgIEs DSR DSR is provided by electricity end users temporarily changing their electricity demand in the following ways. Current National Grid Reserve Services: Turn-down DSR Turn-up DSR DSR by on-site generation Short Term Operating Reserve must be delivered within 20 minutes and sustained for two hours. National Grid typically procures about 2.8GW of which DSR provides 43%. Fast Reserve must be delivered in two minutes and sustained for 15 minutes. National Grid procures 0.8GW of which DSR contributes 38%. Frequency Response must be delivered within 2-30 seconds and maintained for 10-30 minutes. National Grid typically procures 1.2GW with DSR contributing 8%.