Smart Heat

Completed

Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Demographics)
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Energy Models)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Systems Analysis related to energy R&D (Energy modelling)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Technology acceptance)

Project Contact
Electricity North West Limited

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 April 2021

30 April 2022

ENA months

£492,670

Power

North West

Network Innovation Allowance

Project Contact, Electricity North West Limited

This small-scale research project will investigate the impact of heat on Electricity North Wests network by drawing on the analysis from other work (e.g. the WPD Peak Heat project) and combining this with customer engagement to explore the motivations and connection considerations around heat pumps and further testing the acceptability of different methods for network management and flexibility.The project will use the learning from ENWLs Celsius and Smart Street projects to assess how smart network management can exploit existing network capacity, for example, by using variable thermal ratings, voltage control and demand flexibility, and will produce a CBA of methods to manage and mitigate the impacts of electrical heating demand, including variable rating and flexibility. This project is a desktop research and analysis piece based around the following tasks: Future low carbon heating market scenarios and network impacts Best practice in understanding, connections and managing heat pumps Characterising heat flexibility Assessing customer impact Investigating the use of enhanced variable ratings Cost benefit analysis Recommendations for future work This research project will help to improve understanding of future heating markets, the impact these will have on the electricity network and the opportunities for mitigating those impacts using demand side flexibility and smart network management via variable thermal rating.

Under a range of future heating scenarios, it is likely that electrification of heat will result in a significant increase in load on the electricity network with little apparent diversity which will trigger significant network reinforcement unless alternative solutions are identified. This project will investigate the impact of heat on electricity networks by drawing on analysis from other work and combining with customer engagement to explore the motivations and connection considerations around heat pumps and further testing the acceptability of different methods for network management and flexibility. The project will use the learning from the Celsius and Smart Street projects to assess how smart network management can exploit existing network capacity, for example, by using variable thermal ratings, voltage control and demand flexibility, and will produce a CBA of methods to manage and mitigate the impacts of electrical heating demand, including variable rating and flexibility.

19/10/22