Project duration: ongoing

Regen’s solar developer forum brings together leading players in the sector with key policy makers and regulators to discuss how to enable large scale solar to become a successful and sustainable sector, playing a key role in the UK’s energy future and decarbonisation targets.

The forum sessions to date have included:

• Thursday 30 May
• Tuesday 15 October

Regen also launched a report as part of the Solar Commission on 9 July, to stimulate new thinking and encourage collaboration between academics, industry and system operators on the role of solar power in the energy system. A copy of the report can be found here.

As post-subsidy solar and storage became a reality in 2019, the focus turned on how the industry could contribute most effectively to the overall UK energy system. The forum series restarted at this point to provide an opportunity to from leading developers and investors on the pipeline of projects coming through in 2020 and debate what is required to catalyse investment and enable the scale of development we will need.

Speakers in the series have so far included:

• Lily Coles, commercial sales director, Anesco Limited
• Biljana Stojkovska, innovation manager, power potential project Lead, National Grid ESO
• Ricardo Piñeiro, partner, Foresight Group
• Abid Kazim, managing director, NextEnergy Capital
• Toddington Harper, chief executive officer, GRIDSERVE
• David Peill, commercial director, BSR Group
• Eric Weemaels, technical acquisition manager, Foresight Group
• Paul Jewell, policy manager, Western Power Distribution
• Tom Palmer, principal consultant, Cornwall Insight
• Nicholas Gall, senior policy analyst, Solar Trade Association
• Alan John, partner, Osborne Clarke

The forum series is run in partnership with Osborne Clarke

If you are interested in finding out more about this work, please contact Kerry Hayes.

Our ambitious paper, Energy Networks for the Future, highlights the need for a new partnership between the public and private sector to deliver the energy infrastructure needed to achieve net zero decarbonisation.

We know the electricity networks have a critical role to play in our decarbonisation journey. This has been highlighted by the renewed political interest in who owns the networks, how they are governed and the method by which they are regulated and incentivised to make the right investments for our future. This paper, launched in November 2019 at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, is written by Regen and supported by SP Energy Networks. It examines whether the current regulatory model for electricity networks is still fit for purpose to lead the energy transformation and deliver the scale of investment needed to achieve net zero carbon. A core finding of the paper is that radical reform of the current regulatory model for the energy networks is needed to meet the climate emergency, and to ensure public trust that the industry can deliver a zero carbon energy system that is sustainable, resilient and affordable.

Our recommendations include:

• the establishment of a new national office to drive energy strategy and oversee the net zero transition

• increased devolution of decarbonisation and sustainable energy delivery to regional bodies who would work with industry, city regions and communities to lead a local energy revolution

• embed decarbonisation objectives and outputs within the regulatory model

• require networks to include in their business plans a range of net zero carbon options that can be quickly enacted to meet changing requirements

• ensure network companies fulfil their role in achieving a just transition to a low carbon society.

The paper has been informed by indepth research, including interviews with a wide range of industry leaders and stakeholders. Regen’s expertise across the whole system and our strong relationships with Distribution Network Operators (DNO), devolved governments, local authorities and community groups, has given us a solid basis on which to investigate, analyse and design a new network model. Working closely with SP Energy Networks, we have been able to understand the ambitions and pressures on DNOs, as well as that of their customers, as we transition to a net zero energy system and society.

Click on the image below to read the paper:

To find out more about Energy Networks of the Future, contact our policy lead Madeleine Greenhalgh at mgreenhalgh@regen.co.uk

Project duration: Ongoing

Regen has been working with electricity network operators to help maintain a positive relationship with those companies that own and operate the generation assets connected to the distribution network. We work in partnership with Western Power Distribution, the leading network operator in this area, to deliver the quarterly forum.

The project creates an opportunity for the control room staff from the network operator to engage directly with generation assets owners in a constructive forum, that is based on actions and progress over time. This has improved communication and increases understanding between the parties, creating positive outcomes. An estimated 10 GW of assets connected to the distribution network is represented at the forum, with solar PV, onshore wind, hydro, energy storage, anaerobic digestion and gas peakers included.

Key areas of work have included:

• Creation of a generator portal for owners and operators to use for site-specific outage notifications
• Internal work by WPD internally to improve processes and outage planning to reduce the length and severity of network constraints and outages on distributed generation customers
• Improving communication format and frequency with generators on outages and constraints
• Investigating technical options for mitigating outage impact (e.g. new pole-mounted line isolator)
• Estimating the lost generation (MWh) and cost implication (£) from outages.

Regen is an independent facilitator of the forum and takes responsibility for chairing, organising the agenda, writing up meeting notes, contact list management, invites to the sector, and specific project reports (e.g. lost generation).

The WPD forum webpage is available here.

The WPD generator portal is available here.

If you are interested in finding out more about this work, please contact Olly Frankland ofrankland@regen.co.uk.

Project duration: September 2019 – November 2019

Regen has previously worked with Western Power Distribution (WPD) and the Energy Networks Association (ENA) on a range of animations to communicate complex and technical topics in a concise and visual way – available here. In this project for Bristol Energy and Bristol City Council we delivered three animations which unpack three key topics, linking solar PV and energy storage in the home, smart metering, and the climate emergency response in Bristol.

The 2D bespoke graphics included Bristol landmarks and a Bristol Energy colour palette.

Regen created the scripts and storyboards, project managed, monitored the review process and used a trusted animator partner to deliver the animations.

Helping Bristol become carbon neutral by 2030

Linking solar PV and energy storage in the home (due to be published)

Smart meters

If you are interested in finding out more about this work, please contact Olly Frankland ofrankland@regen.co.uk.

Project duration: October 2019 – Jan 2020

Regen has worked with South Gloucestershire council to assess the carbon emissions from the area, to aid their next steps following a declaration of a climate emergency.

Local authorities, government and community groups have responded to the climate crisis by declaring a climate emergency. Regen’s work in this area has been to provide evidence and datasets, as well as communications materials, so that communities and local government can act and set policy in a targeted way.

As well as the total current emissions for the area, Regen also assessed the emissions from the council specifically, and the potential pathways to net zero emissions for the area. For this, we analysed the energy efficiency measures and current heating technologies installed in domestic and non-domestic properties across the district, the renewable energy generation installed and potential for further renewable energy development. A database of emissions and various communications-materials were produced, to help the council plan their pathway to net zero and to communicate the scale of the challenge across all sectors to stakeholders.

Key highlights:

• Carbon emissions have reduced in some areas, but others – like transport, and heat – remain stable

Total carbon emissions have fallen since 2005, with a reduction in industrial emissions, and emissions from electricity consumption. However, emissions from transport and heating have remained relatively stable. The three sectors emitting carbon emissions from energy use are similar in volume of emissions: the domestic, non-domestic, and transport sectors.

• Emissions reductions – and any net zero scenario – is dependent on both local actions and national policy

Development of whole-house retrofit programmes, contracts for the treatment of waste,  coordination and engagement with key private sector stakeholders, and public transport planning are all low-carbon levers which are impacted locally, however decarbonisation of the electricity supply, national planning policy for renewable energy, and funding for local authority actions are all controlled at a national level.

• Domestic heating is a large challenge area, but one with solutions readily available

Around 100,000 homes in South Gloucestershire will need low-carbon heating installed to achieve net-zero, as well 1,000s of non-domestic properties. Energy efficiency improvements are critical in this transition, and will need innovative programmes as well as local decision-making and stakeholder engagement. Energy efficiency improvements reduce the scale of the challenge of decarbonisation, as well as potentially reducing energy bills and improving wellbeing standards.

The resulting database allows South Gloucestershire Council to tailor policy towards critical areas, and begin to map out the pathway to net zero.

As well as the database of emissions and the above summary poster, Regen also produced summary infographics on renewable energy, the built environment, and land-use and land-use change.

To read more about the Climate change strategy of the South Gloucestershire Council, click here.

Regen has worked on a similar analysis for Bristol City Council, to read more please click here.

If you are interested in finding out more about this work, please contact Frankie Mayo at fmayo@regen.co.uk.

Project duration: October 2019 – March 2020

Regen worked with Energy Networks Association and the energy network companies to update the strategies that guide network innovation.

Innovation in our energy networks plays a key role in the transformation of the energy system. Electricity and gas networks are working in partnership with innovators, businesses and local communities to invest in trialling new technologies and business models. Funding mechanisms, including the Network Innovation Allowance and Network Innovation Competition, are enabling an extensive portfolio of projects that are changing how our energy system works and delivering billions of pounds worth of benefits to customers.

We helped shape the underlying principles, innovation themes and focus areas of these important strategies and ran an extensive stakeholder engagement process to make sure we reflected the views of the wider industry.

You can read the 2020 strategies by clicking on the images below:

You can read the project team’s reflections on developing the revised strategies here.

The development of the content involved an extensive stakeholder engagement process, which you can find out more about by following the links below:

Phase 1: Watch the first webinar below, which describes the proposed changes to the strategies and gathers peoples’ feedback. These were part of a wider online consultation that ran from 11 November to 9 December 2019. The summary of findings from this first phase of engagement is available here.

Phase 2: Watch the second webinar here, which summarises the feedback from the first stage of stakeholder engagement and explores focus areas with the participants. This webinar followed  two stakeholder workshops that took place in Glasgow and London in January 2020. The summary of findings from this second phase of engagement is available here.

To find out more about this project, contact Tamar Bourne at tbourne@regen.co.uk.