UK Power Networks is exploring an innovation designed to unlock the potential of community-led energy, it has announced.
Working with Community Energy Pathways, Fuse Energy and Energy Systems Catapult, the network operator is developing the UK’s first scalable blueprint for community-led flexibility through its project, ‘Neighbourhood Watts’.
The innovation is exploring how neighbours can share and use energy more efficiently together. This means homes and businesses team up to use local energy first, such as solar, and shift when they use electricity to avoid peak times.
The project will identify and quantify the full value of community coordination – for networks, consumers and communities – then develop scalable models for how communities across the UK can invest in, and benefit from, flexibility.
It will also explore new ways for households to participate in flexibility markets, including those without their own low carbon technologies, ensuring that inclusive tariffs and methods allow everyone to benefit from cleaner, more affordable energy.
The project’s current phase will map potential income streams, design trials and develop methods that can be tested in future phases.
Building on the Government’s Local Power Plan, UK Power Networks and its partners will work closely with policymakers and regulators to address technical and regulatory barriers, building the right frameworks to support long-term growth in community energy.
Neighbourhood Watts is one of five UK Power Networks projects to have secured funding from the Strategic Innovation Fund this year, an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK.
David Francis, head of investment management and innovation at UK Power Networks, said:
“Neighbourhood Watts is an exciting step forward in developing how our energy system operates, putting communities right at the centre. By bringing together local generation, demand and flexibility, we’re aiming to create a blueprint that works at scale and delivers real, lasting value for customers. All while supporting the transition to net zero, and ensuring the benefits of a smarter, cleaner energy system are shared by everyone.”
Esmé Donghi, chief executive at Community Energy Pathways, said:
“Community energy has always been about people coming together to take control of their energy future. Neighbourhood Watts could unlock new ways for communities to participate in flexibility markets, retaining value locally while helping build a smarter, cleaner and more affordable energy system. It’s another example of the vital role community energy can play in accelerating the energy transition.”
