Tuesday, December 3, 2024
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National Grid Electricity Distribution: Decarbonising the network

Amanda Le Brocq, Director of Connections, National Grid Electricity Distribution, explains how the DNO is delivering on its decarbonisation goals.

National Grid Electricity Distribution is a gold sponsor of the Transport + Energy Forum 2024 on 21 November, and will speak at the TEF talk, which is the event’s version of the famous TED talk format. Book your place for the conference now.

Tell us about your business and how it sits within the transport and energy landscape…

National Grid Electricity Distribution is the distribution network operator for the Midlands, South West and South Wales. We’re the largest DNO in the country and serve 20 million customers in 8 million households and businesses over a 55,000 sq km area – from Skegness to St. David’s.

This translates to 138,000km of underground cables, 90,000km of overhead lines, 190,000 substations and over 6,500 employees.

For us, excellent customer service is a top priority – we know customers will be relying on us more than ever before as they connect EVs, heat pumps, solar and batteries. We connected 80k domestic EV charge points last year, and we’re proud to deliver a reliable network, that’s easy to connect to, at an affordable cost.

We also have one of the largest fleets in the UK, including 1000 electric vehicles – 400 commercial vans and 600 cars. New fully electric 4×4 utility vehicles will soon be joining this fleet, thanks to a collaboration with Skoda and vehicle conversion company Strongs.

What are your decarbonisation goals and targets both in the near term and by 2050?

Achieving a decarbonised power grid in the near term, and a net zero economy by 2050, will require a wholesale transformation of electricity networks.

By 2050, annual electricity demand is expected to more than double driven by demand from low carbon technologies such as electric vehicles.

More EV charge points have been connected in the last two years than all previous years combined, and our self-service products mean 60% of domestic EV connections are approved online in two seconds. We are investing £7.5 billion on our network from 2023-28 to ensure reliability, build capacity and facilitate connections. It’s a big challenge – but one that we’re ready for.

There is another way in which we’re building for the future – through our people. By creating apprenticeships and opportunities for people from all backgrounds to help the UK find creative clean energy solutions, we’re helping to build an unrivalled net zero workforce in the industry. It is the people behind the scenes who will be driving our decarbonisation goals forward, so investment in people, as well as our infrastructure, is paramount.

In what ways have you collaborated with other sectors and businesses, across both the public and private sectors?

The Distribution System Operator (DSO) of National Grid Electricity Distribution is sharing its future network development plans with all local authorities in the South West, Midlands and South Wales. This allows local authorities to see how the DSO has used their data and insight to shape network development plans, so the future distribution network meets the needs of their communities as they transition to a low carbon economy and seek to install the associated infrastructure to support the EV roll-out in their local communities.

Over the past two years we have been focusing on enhancing our self-serve capabilities in the digital space by developing a customer-friendly portal where we can provide up-front estimates and same day application response. New self-service products mean 60% of EV connections are approved online in two seconds, rather than the two days it used to take.

We’ve also developed ClearViewConnect and ClearViewCharge to give customers connections data and help them review their future charges. We’re already sharing our learning with other Distribution Network Operators so they can easily replicate the process as an offer to their customers. Both platforms were introduced following valuable feedback from customers.

ClearViewConnect is our reporting tool, co-created with customers, which brings together connections data and insights for customers and developers in a single format.

This is a first for a Distribution Network Operator and makes the connections pipeline clearer, simpler and faster to access for customers. ClearViewCharge is an online platform that gives customers a clear and simple view of the Distribution Use of Service tariffs. The new platform makes it easier for customers to review the different charges across the National Grid network during different time periods to help inform their decision-making process on where to connect assets and when to operate them.

What is your biggest challenge as a company?

We have seen an exponential increase in generation and industry-scale demand, including renewable generation, data centres, electrification of manufacturing and low-carbon tech. Naturally, the boom in demand for rapid charge point hubs is one example.

They’re big pieces of infrastructure that require a lot of work to connect – we recently reinforced the network for Exeter Motorway Service Area (MSA) and the network capacity installed was enough to support a town of 10,000 people. The reality is that our distribution connections pipeline is larger than ever at around 49GW – well over double the 18-20GW needed by 2035.

While it’s a challenge – I’m confident that we are up to the task. We’re proactively implementing the Energy Network Association’s three-point plan, as well as leading in wider industry connections reform. What this means in practice is reforming the connections queue, changing how we coordinate connections between transmission and distribution, as well as offering greater flexibility for storage customers. We’ve already removed 5.9GW of mothballed projects from the queue so far and through the industry’s Technical Limits initiative, NGED has led the way and signed 49 contracts for over 1.6GW, with an average acceleration in connection date of 5.8 years.

What would you like to see from the UK Government?

In our region, we’re particularly keen to see the expansion of permitted development rights for a wider range of electricity apparatus. For instance, the upgrading of a single‐phase line to three-phase or increasing the size of conductors on a low voltage overhead cable, should be allowed under permitted development rights rather than requiring full planning consent as it does today.

We also believe electricity networks should have the same rights of access as other utilities, namely water and broadband, as this would significantly reduce the time taken to repair, upgrade, or connect assets.

Another example would be allowing MSA operators and networks to carry out more works under permitted development rights to accommodate development at pace. From a networks perspective, this is a key area where we know we can speed up transport decarbonisation if we are given the license to do so.

We also need clarity on the Rapid Charging Fund. Delay in implementation of this fund has created a hiatus in investment and slowed progress at MSAs. Deployment of charging infrastructure at these sites is important to tackle public concerns around range anxiety, and is an enabler for broader sectoral decarbonisation. We are ready to work with the relevant departments to expedite implementation of the RCF, or any replacement, under the new government.

How do you see the sector changing and progressing in the next 5, 10, 15 years?

We expect over 4 million EVs to be connected to our distribution network by 2050. Our RIIO-ED2 business plan, which sees over £6bn invested in our network between now and 2028, lays the foundations for this and we expect to connect an additional one million EVs to our network over the next five years. That’s nearly 10 times the number connected today – and a great leap forward in enabling transport decarbonisation.

Our transmission network’s Great Grid Upgrade is further future-proofing the grid in readiness to meet increasing electricity demand from transport.

The electricity distribution networks of the future will need to continue to provide safe, reliable, and affordable network services, as well as providing excellent customer service. We will use our position as regional, customer-focused businesses to actively shape and deliver net zero in the communities that we serve. Harnessing data and technology to operate smarter, more dynamic, and cost-effective networks is crucial to
this future.

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