News
Smart metering and improved demand-side response critical to decarbonising the UK’s energy system
London, 13 April, 2010: Redpoint Energy, one of Europe’s leading energy consultancies, spoke about energy policy and demand side participation at the Smart Utility Forum 2010. Duncan Sinclair, co-founder and director of Redpoint Energy, discussed the increasing need for demand-side flexibility to help decarbonise the UK’s power sector and meet the Government’s 2020 targets for reducing carbon emissions.
During his talk, Sinclair underlined smart metering’s position as a key enabler of the government’s decarbonisation agenda. In addition, he suggested a number of additional policy and regulatory initiatives that should be explored to encourage more effective demand-side participation.
Sinclair explains: “In the immediate term, smart meters will give consumers real-time visibility of their energy consumption, allowing them to take a more proactive approach to reducing consumption. In the longer term, it is expected that smart meters will help encourage the behavioural changes required to deliver the government’s 2020 targets, as consumers adjust their usage in response to real-time price signals through sophisticated in-home technologies.”
Based on their accurate measurement capabilities, smart meters support feed-in tariffs for consumers wishing to sell energy back to their main supplier. Smart metering is therefore considered to be a key facilitator of customer investment in smaller-scale or micro-generation. Furthermore, by facilitating the connection of new electrical loads such as heat pumps and electric vehicles to the system, smart meters can support decarbonisation in the heating and transport sectors, as well as the power sector.
These new loads may provide an important source of flexibility as the generation mix changes in the coming years. Environmental legislation is accelerating the closure of responsive thermal plant just as the requirement for flexibility increases with the rapid deployment of wind power, possibly as much as 30GW by 2020.
Sinclair also highlighted a number of initiatives that could increase of response available from the demand side: “With new technologies developing all the time, we estimate that demand-side response from the mass market could provide 10GW or more of flexibility by 2030. This could significantly reduce the requirement for back-up thermal plant and play a critical role in the de-carbonisation of the power sector.”
“Of course, the right policy frameworks need to be put in place for this to happen,” he continued. “As an example, the widespread adoption of electric vehicles will require increased co-ordination of transport and energy policy. At the same time, the policy and regulatory framework will need to provide the correct incentives for different parties to invest in deploying a more responsive demand side.”