Newsletter – Issue 6: Hotting up
The Cornwall Local Energy Market (LEM) has reached another landmark moment as we have successfully installed solar panels and smart battery systems in 100 homes across the county. With phase two of the trials underway, Cornwall’s virtual power plant is officially in full swing – and there is still time for businesses to get involved.
CALLING ALL CORNISH BUSINESSES
With the next phase of trials running from summer 2019, we are calling for local businesses and aggregators to register their interest on the platform, to view live requests for flexibility.
This phase will include National Grid and Western Power Distribution buying flexibility reserve and capacity to help meet network and system needs. Business participants with flexible energy capacity (the ability to produce more energy or reduce consumption at certain times) will be able to respond by declaring when they have capacity available to meet these needs and the platform will automatically match offers with requests.
Not only will participating local businesses receive payment for this service, you will also have the opportunity learn about the benefits of energy flexibility, as part of an award-winning local project with a global impact.
The LEM is also offering grants to Cornish businesses to install energy monitoring equipment. You will be able to find out how much electricity you are using down to individual device level, pinpoint and reduce energy wastage and identify opportunities to save energy in real-time.
For more information on either of these opportunities, please register your interest via cornwall@centrica.com and we will contact you to discuss your participation.
100 CORNISH HOMES JOIN A VIRTUAL POWER PLANT REVOLUTION
Greg, a residential LEM participant
In the biggest milestone for the LEM project to date, the installation of cutting-edge battery and solar PV technology in 100 households has been completed.
The LEM has fitted smart battery systems in all 100 households participating in the £19m trial. Solar panels were also installed in the 60 homes which did not already have this. They will now be aggregated together and used to provide flexibility services for the local electricity network – representing the largest active residential ‘Virtual Power Plant’ operational in the UK.
The aggregated power and flexibility will be made available through our world-first online marketplace developed in partnership with the University of Exeter, Imperial College London, Western Power Distribution, National Grid and Belgian energy market and data analytics experts N-SIDE.
Greg, a chocolate company sales director from Penponds, is one of the householders to have received the sonnen battery and solar array. Greg is married with two daughters and has lived in Penponds for the past 14 years.
While saving money on their electricity bill was an appealing prospect, Greg signed up to participate in the LEM because he liked the idea of being able to “see how close to a position of self-sufficiency we could get to,” adding that as a parent with young daughters who are environmentally conscious, it was important for Greg to set a good example in how each member of the family can “minimise their footprint and the impact on the environment.”
Since the installations in January, which Greg described as “not intrusive at all,” he has already noticed a significant reduction in their electricity consumption from the grid. He predicts that they could be looking at a 65-70% reduction in electricity consumption across a full year.
Teaching Assistant and LEM participant Jane has been using the project to talk to her students about renewable energy
Cornwall LEM Programme Manager Dan Nicholls said: “We are delighted to have completed the final phase of installing renewable and storage technologies across 100 homes in the county.
“Over the next 12 months, we will see how our participants benefit from our award-winning online virtual marketplace for energy and flexibility. This is an exciting time for Centrica and we are looking forward to the results.”
RECOGNITION AND ATTENTION FOR THE LEM
Centrica colleagues celebrated on 11th June as the Cornwall Local Energy Market was awarded best Smart Energy System at the prestigious Renewable Energy Association Awards. The ceremony in London brought together many of the leading lights in the energy sector, and the judging panel, which included Shadow Energy Minister Alan Whitehead, Greenpeace Chief Scientist Doug Parr, and the Chairs and CEOs from influential organisations like the Committee of Climate Change and The Energy Institute, praised the LEM as a ‘real life successful smart energy system’ helping to bring forward the energy transition.
June was a month of awards success for the project as the LEM also scooped the award for ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards on 26th June.
The LEM continues to be recognised and praised by industry peers and is currently shortlisted in two categories at the Solar & Storage Live Awards; for Residential Solar and/or Storage Project of the Year and Smart Energy Award. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 18th September.
The Cornwall Local Energy Market was awarded best ‘Smart Energy System’ at the Renewable Energy Association Awards in June
Elsewhere journalists from BBC South West, Energy Live News, Current News and Business Green attended a media day in a number of LEM locations across Cornwall at the end of April. This was the perfect opportunity for them to hear what our residential and business participants think about the LEM and to explore the future of virtual energy marketplaces with the Centrica team.
Journalists were also able to touch and feel some of the new technologies being installed and, as part of a roundtable event, experience a demonstration of the LEM platform itself. This interactive event was hosted by Carbis Bay Hotel, one of our LEM business participants, and was attended by other participants and partners, including Western Power Distribution and Exeter University.
THE NEW RENEWABLE GENERATION
The LEM is one of the building blocks for the energy system of the future and provides the perfect opportunity to engage with Cornwall’s future engineers, scientists and mathematicians. That’s why we were delighted to participate in this year’s Cornwall Skills Show 2019 at the Royal Cornwall Show Ground, which was a great opportunity to engage with young minds and demonstrate the importance of renewables.
Our stand featured our interactive map, which also hosted various animations. School children were able to participate in a drone game competition, which was packed all day, with nearly 500 school children estimated to have engaged with the stand.
This is just the beginning of our efforts to engage the next generation. Over coming months, we will be developing an education outreach programme which will take the LEM story to schools and STEM events and help illustrate how young people can rise to the challenges of climate change. If your school is interested in being part of this programme, please get in touch.
