A view from the Canopy: Why Clear Planning and Collaboration can Accelerate Our Energy Transition

This is a computer generated image of blocks representing buildings in a city, with lines running below the blocks lighting up, representing an energy grid actively supplying the city with energy and power.

25 September 2024 - In this blog, Claire Hannon, from Advanced Infrastructure, discusses why she thinks collaboration is the key to unlocking the energy transition and discusses how her organisation is working on a new Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) Tool and the impact this could have on energy planning and consumption locally.

Tipping point

The energy transition is reaching a critical juncture. The new labour government has already approved three wind farms and a new subsea cable, alongside a £1.5 billion fund for homegrown clean energy projects through Great British Energy.  While renewables are now the most cost-effective energy source - 86% of 2022's renewable capacity cost less than fossil fuels – the challenge lies in how we consume that energy. Many homes and businesses may have solar panels, but they’re still heated by gas or oil, with inadequate insulation to make technologies like heat pumps fully effective.

The journey to net zero isn’t just about generating more renewable energy—it’s also about how we distribute and use that energy locally.

Local authorities play a crucial role in addressing these issues, from phasing out gas and oil to upgrading infrastructure for sustainable energy use. For example, Cambridge City Council is aiming for net zero by 2030, with 52 actionable goals, from retrofitting council homes to introducing ultra-low-emission buses (ULEVs).

However, implementing Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) can be slow and complicated, often requiring coordination across multiple departments and stakeholders. Early LAEPs were static documents, making it hard for councils to keep pace with the rapid changes in the energy landscape.

Use innovation and simplify collaboration

Innovation is central to overcoming the significant challenges of the energy transition. As we move toward a more sustainable energy future, it's clear that traditional approaches alone cannot keep up with the pace and scale required to meet ambitious climate goals. New technologies and creative collaborations are essential not just for optimising energy generation but also for designing out the perceived risks and barriers that come with adopting these innovations.

Collaboration between innovators, industry disruptors, and established players helps unlock even greater potential. By sharing research, co-developing ideas, and forming partnerships, companies can push boundaries faster than they would in isolation.

For example, Regen, in conjunction with energy providers and government agencies, created ‘Energy Future Scenarios’ which provides 4 projections of energy requirements across the UK until 2050. These scenarios model the adoption of new low-carbon technologies by consumers and businesses in conjunction with the systematic upgrading of the energy networks required to facilitate this. The energy distribution operators like National Grid use these projections to organise required upgrades to the grid.

At Advanced Infrastructure, we’ve leveraged innovation to create LAEP+, a cloud-based platform helping local authorities develop dynamic energy transition plans.

Sometimes innovation is less about the 'what' and more about the 'how'. When it comes to deploying low-carbon technologies into buildings a major stumbling block that people mention is getting approval to connect your tech to the electricity network.

At a domestic level, this can happen when installing an electric vehicle charger because it changes the maximum electricity you could draw from the network significantly. Sometimes there is available capacity, but sometimes the local cables or substation will require upgrading to enable your connection. This will mean additional costs and delays. For schools or businesses installing heat pumps, it can double the cost, which must inevitably lead to some projects being dropped.

LAEP+ allows local councils to collaborate more closely with the electricity network providers, to give them early indications of the locations and types of low-carbon technologies that are being planned with appropriate levels of confidence depending on the timescales. These can contribute towards the strategic planning that the electricity network providers are doing, which aims to anticipate connection requests long before they are submitted by individuals, businesses and developers.

By improving this feedback loop and the collaboration between the local councils and the electricity network providers, more low-carbon technologies can be deployed with reduced delays and a lower cost for the home or business owner.

LAEP+ combines cutting-edge data and scenario modelling, enabling quicker, more effective decision-making and progress tracking. This is essential in an ever-changing energy landscape.

In essence, innovation is not just a tool for developing new technologies—it is a mechanism for removing obstacles to adoption, fostering collaboration, and making sustainable solutions both affordable and practical. By embracing these innovative approaches, we can move more quickly and confidently towards a net-zero future.

LAEP+: A Smarter Way to Plan for Local Energy Transitions

Advanced Infrastructure’s cloud based LAEP+ platform helps local authorities create dynamic, actionable energy plans. It provides data on energy use, transport, and heat, and allows councils to consult with stakeholders, model different scenarios, and track progress in real-time. This helps overcome the limitations of traditional LAEPs, enabling councils to stay on track toward their carbon reduction goals.

Advanced Infrastructures customers are using LAEP+ to apply for grants for EV chargepoints. They are identifying areas of focus for rolling out council housing retrofit and fast-tracking upgrades to schools. By working together with the electricity network operators they are paving the way for the acceleration needed towards the tipping point in sustainable energy consumption. 

For more information, sample data and free demos can be found at www.advanced-infrastructure.co.uk

Advanced Infrastructure is part of CISL’s Canopy; a global innovation community connecting startups, entrepreneurs, companies, and investors focused on sustainability. Housed in CISL’s HQ sustainable retrofit The Entopia Building, Cambridge. Find out more about the Canopy here.