Tag Archives: Smart Metering

London Smart Grid Projects

May 2014: A new study on smart grid projects being undertaken across the EU also provides an excellent Smart Grids Project Map, and highlights a number of projects going forward in London.

Brief details are provided on 30 smart grid projects in the capital including:

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Decarbonising London’s electricity network

March 2013: An update on  progress of the Low Carbon London programme as it moves into the trial phase – the key areas for which are:

  • Smart metering (SM) – monitoring residential and commercial electricity use and trialling variable tariff pricing to shift consumption behaviour.
  • Small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) – quantify generation output, understand demand and manage techniques for accommodating these connections.
  • Electric vehicles (EV) – understand and influence EV charging patterns and manage the impact on the electricity network.
  • Distributed energy (DE)/Distributed generation (DG) – active network monitoring (ANM) – quantify generation output, understand how to facilitate and manage DG and how active control can be used by DNOs.
  • Demand response (DR) – understand the potential to postpone/defer electricity network reinforcement during peak demand.

Further information on Low Carbon London here.

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Low Carbon London and EDF Energy share initial smart meter findings

March 2012: Recent news release from the Low Carbon London project stating that: “The first 500 smart meters have been installed by EDF Energy in homes across London as part of a pioneering pilot to cut carbon across the capital. …EDF Energy, as a member of the Low Carbon London programme, plans to fit 5,000 smart meters across London and in the Mayor’s low carbon zones, Green Enterprise District and RE:NEW areas by the end of August.” The full news release can be read here. Further information on smart metering initiatives in London can be read here. The trials are taking place in a number of areas around London including  Lewisham,  ArchwayCanning Town,  Barking and  Peckham.

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Smart Grid Project Launched

24 January 2012: “Energy management company Honeywell  today announced a smart grid project that will help connect up to 30 commercial and industrial buildings in the Thames Valley area west of London, and temporarily reduce electricity consumption when overall use spikes. This will help alleviate the potential for future transmission and distribution bottlenecks as the peak demand for energy grows. It will also enable building operators to decrease their energy use, utility bills and carbon dioxide emissions.” Read full news release here.

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‘Low Carbon London’ Update

January 2012: London distribution network operator UK Power Connections was awarded funding under Ofgem’s Low Carbon Network Fund to undertake a smart metering project with a range of stakeholders entitled ‘Low Carbon London’ (more of which here). The Executive Summary of their latest Six Monthly Report has just been posted on Ofgem’s website here. The update mentions that:

  • A comprehensive campaign to identify 500 trial smart meter customers in London Low Carbon Zones has been undertaken and 263 meters have been so far installed (more of which here).
  • Partner organisation Imperial College has opened the ‘Low Carbon London Learning Lab’ (more of which here and here).
  • A series of ‘innovative DNO-level Demand Response Contracts have been signed’ – see earlier post for details on this.

The Low Carbon London project will run from January 2011 until June 2014.  UK Power Networks will work with Transport for London and electric vehicle owner groups to explore how best to meet demand from the country’s anticipated growth in the use of electric vehicles, and the impact of locally generated green power on the electricity network will be tested to ensure fast and cost-effective grid connections can be provided in the future. Imperial’s Low Carbon London Learning Laboratory will analyse the data from all the trial installations

The update helpfully states that – “The highly inter-dependent nature of the detailed design work requires a high level of intricate configuration management to ensure all internal and external inter-dependencies are accurately maintained as the overall and individual component designs progress and mature” – which I’m sure enlightens us all…

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London smart meter trial launched

18 November 2011: As part of the ‘Low Carbon London’ project, 5,000 smart meters are to be installed in homes and businesses across London.  EDF Energy customers in the pilot zones, Lewisham, Perry Vale, Canning Town, Archway, Barking, Muswell Hill and Peckham, are being offered the first 500 smart meters, extending to EDF Energy customers in the ten low carbon zones and the Green Enterprise District later next year. Read full details on the following press release from London’s electricity distribution network operator, UK Power Networks.

Further information on the ‘Low Carbon London’ project – which is funded through Ofgem’s Low Carbon Network Fund – can be seen here and here.

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Better Metering Toolkit

August 2011: The Better Building Partnership (BBP), a collaborative project led by London’s leading commercial property owners and supported by the Mayor of London, has produced a guide designed to support both owners and occupiers in understanding the benefits of installing advanced metering systems in buildings, including the current options availableThis and other studies undertaken by the Better Buildings Partnership available to download here.

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Preparations for the roll-out of smart meters

30 June 2011: According to a National Audit Office (NAO) report released todayThere are major risks the Department of Energy and Climate Change must address to achieve value for money from its £11.3 billion national programme to install ‘smart’ electricity and gas meters in all homes and smaller non-domestic premises in Great Britain from 2014 to 2019.” Amongst the conclusions made in the report, the NAO highlight that DECC “expects smart meters to help the average dual fuel 7 customer to save £23 a year by 2020, if they change their energy use in line with the Department’s estimates. This overall benefit depends on suppliers minimising costs and passing on all their efficiency savings through their prices.” Further information on the recent smart meter trials mentioned in the NAO report are set out in Ofgem’s Energy Demand Research Project published earlier this week.

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Energy Demand Research Project – Community Trials

June 2011: Final analysis of Ofgem/DECC major Energy Demand Research Project (EDRP) has just been published. EDRP was a behaviour change trial designed to help better understand how domestic consumers react to improved information about their energy consumption over the long term. The project involved over 60,000 households, including 18,000 with smart meters. Measures were generally applied at household level but one supplier (SSE) also tested action at community level (none of which were unfortunately in London – the results of these community trials are detailed in Appendix D of the report).
The results are too detailed to summarise here- but the 10 page Exec summary makes interesting reading.

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Low Carbon London

13 April 2011: Guardian feature on future electricity demand includes comment from UK Power Networks (London’s electricity distribution network operator) on their Low Carbon London project (more of which on Ofgem’s website).

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Smart metering – what it means for Britain’s homes

31 March 2011: Useful fact sheet released from Ofgem on the smart metering implementation programme which will involve more than 50 million new meters being installed in 30 million homes and businesses over a seven year period.

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Brent Climate Change and Social Media Project

16 February 2011: Brent Council asked its residents to volunteer to monitor their energy consumption in their homes, thereby making it simple to save at least 10 per cent off their energy bills between mid May and mid November 2010. Participants were given small energy monitoring devices and were encouraged to create and maintain a lively citizen-driven dialogue on energy saving by using Social Media applications such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Blogger. 180 Brent residents registered their interest and after 6 months, savings of over 15 per cent were automatically reported by many. Further information on Brent’s website.

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