ifi / lcnf report - uk power networks

ukpowernetworks.co.uk

IFI / LCNF Report April 2012 – March 2013

For the licence companies:

UK Power Networks (LPN) plc

UK Power Networks (EPN) plc

UK Power Networks (SPN) plc

UK Power Networks (Operations) Limited. Registered in England and Wales. Registered No. 3870728. Registered Office: Newington House, 237 Southwark Bridge Road, London,

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Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................... 4

Background to the Innovation Funding Incentive ..................................... 6

Eligibility for IFI Funding .............................................................................. 6

New Projects over the Coming Year ........................................................... 7

Summary of Expenditure .............................................................................. 8

Highlights ..................................................................................................... 12

Strategy ........................................................................................................ 21

Managing Asset Risk and Improving Fault Performance ....................... 28

Automated Asset Registration (Completed) .................................................. 29

Vegetation Management (Completed) .......................................................... 31

Contact Voltage Testing (Completed) ........................................................... 33

National Underground Assets Group (NUAG) (Completed) ......................... 35

Tree Growth Regulator .................................................................................. 37

Overhead Line Incipient Fault Location ........................................................ 39

Earthing Information System ......................................................................... 41

Developing Long Term Asset Risk Replacement Modelling ......................... 43

Development of technologies to extend the life of Link boxes and mitigate the

impact of cable pit disruptive failures ............................................................ 45

Detection of Broken and Low Hanging Conductors ...................................... 48

Earthing Design Tool ..................................................................................... 50

Leveraging Industrial and Commercial Demand Response and

Dispatchable Generation ............................................................................ 52

Bankside Heat Transfer ................................................................................ 53

Automated LTDS Diagrams (Completed) ..................................................... 55

Managing Residential and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)

Consumer Demand ..................................................................................... 57

Supergen 3 HiDEF Highly Distributed Energy Futures ................................. 58

Active Distribution networks with full integration of Demand and distributed

energy RESourceS (ADDRESS) (Completed) .............................................. 61

Home Based Flexible Demand Management (HBFDM) ............................... 63

New Options to Release Capacity at 11kV, 33kV and 132 kV ................. 65

Increased Capacity from Existing Overhead Line Routes ............................ 66

Urban Transformer Substation ...................................................................... 68

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 2 – Overhead Networks .. 70

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 5 – Networks for Distributed

Energy Resources ......................................................................................... 72

Transformer Design for FR3 (Completed) .................................................... 74

Fault Level Management Study .................................................................... 76

Understand Current and Future Performance of the HV and LV

Network ........................................................................................................ 78

Distribution Network Visibility ........................................................................ 79

LV Remote Control and Automation / Smart Urban LV Network .................. 82

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 3 – Cable networks ......... 86

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 4 – Substations ............... 88

High Performance Computing Technologies for Smart Distributed Network

Operation (HiPerDNO) (Completed) ............................................................. 90

Understand the Condition of Our Assets ................................................. 93


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Sustainable Asset Risk and Prioritisation Modelling ..................................... 94

Helicopter Mounted Partial Discharge Locator ............................................. 96

Develop Commercial Solutions and Products ......................................... 98

Smart Power Distribution .............................................................................. 99

Collaborative Programmes ...................................................................... 101

Energy Innovation Centre ........................................................................... 102

Power Networks Research Academy ......................................................... 105

Collaborative ENA R&D Programme .......................................................... 108


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Introduction UK Power Networks operates the three licensed electricity distribution networks serving London, the East of England and the South-East of England. These networks serve more than eight million homes and businesses and support critical national infrastructure. We are the lowest cost, most reliable and most innovative DNO group. Our obligations are to invest wisely and cost-effectively in infrastructure, offer timely and affordable connections to our network and maintain high standards of security of supply. In parallel, we have a core challenge to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. The UK Government’s Carbon Plan

1 outlines how the

Government proposes to manage the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy; it contains ambitious proposals for generating electricity from low carbon and renewable sources, and for electrification of heat and transport. Wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles (the batteries of which will be charged from the electricity distribution network) and electric heating (which will be supplied by the electricity distribution network) will be fundamental to achieving these targets. UK Power Networks’ challenge is to understand how future electricity demand will change, and to then develop new tools and design options to add to our armoury in order that this increased level of electricity demand can be met efficiently and economically. Innovation is central to this challenge. This annual report is our summary of innovation activities which have been funded by the Innovation Funding Incentive (IFI). We are aware that a number of other important stakeholders will be reading this report in order to understand our activities. For this reason, we provide some initial context by introducing the company, our approach to innovation and the background to the IFI. Our activities funded by the IFI form only part of our overall innovation portfolio. We have been awarded a total of £44m of funding from the Low Carbon Networks fund tier 2, the largest amongst the DNO groups. Throughout the report we refer to other innovation activities, including LCNF Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects. You can keep up to date with developments on our larger scale LCNF Tier 2 Smart Grid trials: ‘Smarter Network Storage’, ‘Low Carbon London’ and ‘Flexible Plug and Play’, through their regular progress reports published on the Ofgem website

2.

Further information relating to these projects can be found on the project’s dedicated website: www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/en/innovation/

Company Structure

UK Power Networks owns and operates the licensed electricity distribution networks serving the East of England, London and the South-East of England. The licensees managed by UK Power Networks are:

Eastern Power Networks plc for the East of England, referred to as ‘EPN’ in the rest of this report

London Power Networks plc for London, referred to as ‘LPN’ in the rest of this report

South Eastern Power Networks plc for the South East of England, referred to as ‘SPN’ in the rest of this report

These licence areas are shown in the map in Figure 1 overleaf.

1 http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/tackling-climate-change/carbon-plan/3702-the-carbon-plan-delivering-our-low-carbon-

future.pdf 2 http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/lcnf/stlcnp/Pages/stp.aspx

3 http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/lcnf/Pages/lcnf.aspx

2 http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/lcnf/stlcnp/Pages/stp.aspx

http://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/en/innovation/

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/tackling-climate-change/carbon-plan/3702-the-carbon-plan-delivering-our-low-carbon-future.pdf

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/tackling-climate-change/carbon-plan/3702-the-carbon-plan-delivering-our-low-carbon-future.pdf

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/lcnf/stlcnp/Pages/stp.aspx


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Figure 1: The areas served by UK Power Networks

Innovation activities across the EPN, LPN and SPN licensed electricity distribution areas are conducted by UK Power Networks. For each project, we allocate expenditure across the three license areas in proportion to the major assets within those license areas that are expected to benefit from the innovation activity, or according to the number of customers in each licensed area who will benefit. For example, our innovation projects associated with overhead line networks are largely funded from the IFI allowance allocated to the EPN and SPN license areas, where the vast majority of our overhead line network is to be found. Our innovation activities typically fall into a number of categories: to understand a future issue and build a timeline for action; to inform engineering decisions; or to develop new solutions such as test equipment, sensors, devices which can make decisions and control the network, network management software and desktop design tools. UK Power Networks operates a balanced portfolio of innovation, with projects ranging from early-stage research through to trials on our network. Whilst the IFI has been a significant source of funding for our innovation activities, we seek to leverage other sources of funding where possible. In parallel with the activities reported here, UK Power Networks is strongly involved with Ofgem’s Low Carbon

SPN

LPN

EPN


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Network Fund (LCNF)3. As well as the LCNF Tier 2 projects, (Low Carbon London, Smarter Network

Storage, and Flexible Plug and Play), five smaller LCNF Tier 1 smart grid projects are also registered covering areas ranging from remote control of the Low Voltage (LV) network, greater network monitoring and the impact of photovoltaic (PV) generation; again, details of which can be found on the Ofgem website.

Background to the Innovation Funding Incentive The primary aim of the Innovation Funding Incentive (IFI) is to encourage both distribution and transmission network operators to apply innovation in the technical development of their networks. Ofgem recognises that innovation has a different risk/reward balance compared with a network operator’s core business. The incentives provided by the IFI mechanism are designed to create a risk/reward balance that is consistent with research, development, demonstration and deployment. IFI is intended to provide funding for projects primarily focused on the technical development of the networks in order to deliver value (e.g. financial, quality of supply, environmental, safety) to consumers.

The IFI activities described in this report are governed by Standard Licence Condition 46 and Charge Restriction Condition 10 in the Electricity Distribution Licence. Their requirements can be summarised as follows:

A network operator is allowed to spend up to 0.5% of its combined distribution network revenue or its combined transmission network revenue, as the case maybe, on eligible IFI projects

Internal expenditure incurred by the network operator in running and implementing IFI projects can be considered as part of the total IFI expenditure accrued by the network operator

The network operator is allowed to recover 80% of its eligible project expenditure via the IFI mechanism within the network operator’s licence

Ofgem does not approve IFI projects, but network operators have to openly report their IFI activities on an annual basis

Ofgem reserves the right to audit IFI activities if this is judged to be necessary in the interests of customers

In April 2015, both the Innovation Funding Incentive and Low Carbon Networks Fund (Tier 1) will be replaced by the Network Innovation Allowance. UK Power Networks has requested via the RIIO-ED1 process an allowance of 0.5% of revenues to continue work similar to that reported, and will continue to participate in the competitive funding rounds under the Network Innovation Competition.

Eligibility for IFI Funding Projects will be judged as eligible within the IFI, provided that:

The project satisfies the eligibility criteria described in Engineering Recommendation G85, Issue 2, ‘Innovation Good Practice Guide for Energy Networks’, published by the Energy Networks Association (ENA)

The project has been well managed as defined in Engineering Recommendation G85; and

The reporting requirements have been met This report fulfils our reporting requirements for the regulatory year 2012/13 and demonstrates that our projects are being well managed. Each individual project report presented later in this report includes a project ‘score’ which summarises how the project meets the eligibility criteria laid down in Engineering Recommendation G85. Work that has been approved within an industry recognised or national/governmental programme (such as a Technology Strategy Board Programme or European Commission Programme) and whose

3 http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/lcnf/Pages/lcnf.aspx

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Networks/ElecDist/lcnf/Pages/lcnf.aspx


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terms of reference clearly address innovation in the networks may be considered eligible within IFI if it meets the defined criteria. Co-operation between network operators and other organisations to pursue IFI projects is encouraged. In such cases the overall project would be expected to meet the IFI eligibility criteria and it would be acceptable for each participating network operator to use the eligibility case for the overall project. IFI projects that secure additional funding from outside agencies, such as the Technology Strategy Board or the European Commission, will not trigger any claw-back of IFI funding by Ofgem. Engagement with industry engineering committees is not considered eligible as this does not constitute a project with a specific target or delivery. In the event that a network operator provides resources to contribute to an eligible IFI project which is led or managed by a third party, those costs incurred by the network operator, that are not recovered from the third party, will be considered to be eligible IFI expenditure. Where supporting such projects with a net cost to the network operator, the network operator should demonstrate that the expected benefits to the network operator exceed the costs involved. IFI projects, by their nature, involve risk. It is understood, therefore, that not all IFI projects will meet their aims and objectives and deliver net benefits. However, it is expected that the benefits from those that do succeed will significantly outweigh those which do not, and exceed the overall costs of a network operator’s IFI programme.

New Projects over the Coming Year You can read about new projects as they are added on the Energy Networks Association (ENA) Smarter Network Portal (http://www.ena-eng.org/smarter-networks/). The portal (Figure 2) allows users to search our project portfolio, and those of other DNOs, for topics of interest.

Figure 2: Smarter Network Portal

http://www.ena-eng.org/smarter-networks/


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Summary of Expenditure Figure 3 and Tables 1 and 2 below show UK Power Networks’ usage of the innovation funding incentive since its inception:

Figure 3: Trend of innovation spend

Regulatory Year Total IFI Expenditure IFI Allowance

This regulatory year 12/13 £3,053.8k £6,260.0k

Regulatory year 11/12 £2,668.9k £5,392.3k







Early start report 04/05 £275.8k N/A

Total £27,946.0k £37,261.0k

Table 1: IFI expenditure and allowance


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Details of the expenditure in the current regulatory year are shown below:

EPN LPN SPN TOTAL

IFI carry forward from 11/12 (£k) £981.7k £894.5k £692.8k £2,569k

Combined distribution network revenue (£m)

£509.9m £404.5m £337.6m £1,252m

Allowance 12/13 (Including carry forward) (£k)

£3,531.2k £2,917.0k £2,380.8k £8,829.1k

Eligible IFI expenditure 12/13(£k) £1,160.2k £1,218.0k £675.6k £3,053.8k

Of which internal expenditure 12/13(£k)

£144.1k £113.1k £81.5k £338.7k

The IFI carry forward to 13/14 (£k) £1,274.7k £804.5k £844.0k £2,923.2k

Table 2: IFI spend/allowance/carry forward per licence area

Expenditure from IFI Projects

Table 3 below details individual project expenditures from April 2012 to March 2013. Investment is apportioned across UK Power Networks’ three licence areas according to the number of customers, or assets in each area most likely to benefit from the research outcomes. The basis of the allocation is specified in each project report.

EPN LPN SPN Total

Managing Asset Risk and Improving Fault Performance

Automated Asset Registration (Completed)

No expenditure for 2012/13 £0

Vegetation Management (Completed)


Contact Voltage Testing (Completed)

£0 £394,676 £0 £394,676

National Underground Assets Group (Completed)


Tree Growth Regulator £1,222 £1 £436 £1,659

Overhead Line Incipient Fault Detection

£97,808 £46 £34,914 £132,768

Earthing Information System £38,437 £24,640 £24,404 £87,481

Developing long term asset risk replacement modelling

£25,767 £14,208 £16,342 £56,317

Development of technologies to extend the life of link boxes and mitigate the impact of cable pit disruptive failures

£38,251 £155,747 £30,338 £224,336

Detection of broken or low hanging conductors

£33,081 £15 £11,808 £44,904

Earthing Design Tool £28,361 £18,180 £18,007 £64,548

Leveraging Industrial and Commercial Demand Response and Dispatchable Generation


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Bankside Heat Transfer £0 £0 £0 £0

Automated LTDS diagrams (Completed)

£48,317 £30,973 £30,678 £109,968

Managing Residential and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Consumer Demand

Supergen 3 – HiDef Highly Distributed Energy Futures

£9,600 £6,154 £6,095 £21,849

Active Distribution networks with full integration of Demand and distributed energy RESourseS (ADDRESS) – please see note at foot of table (Completed)


Home Based Flexible Demand £4,798 £3,076 £3,047 £10,921

New Options to Release Capacity at 11kV, 33kV and 132kV

Increased Capacity from Existing Overhead Line Routes

£137,580 £65 £49,111 £186,756

Urban Transformer Substation £1,124 £620 £713 £2,457

STP Module 2: Overhead Networks £28,352 £18,175 £18,002 £64,529

STP Module 5: Networks for Distributed Energy Resources

£22,665 £14,530 £14,391 £51,586

Transformer Design for FR3 (Completed)


Fault Level Management Study £0 £4,874 £0 £4,874

Understand Current and Future Performance of the 11kV and LV Network

Distribution Network Visibility £0 £143,786 £0 £143,786

LV Remote Control and Automation £430,276 £245,166 £281,041 £956,483

STP Module 3: Cable Networks £34,354 £22,023 £21,813 £78,190

STP Module 4: Substations £24,758 £15,871 £15,720 £56,350

High Performance Computing Technologies for Smart Distributed Network Operation (HiPerDNO) (Completed)

£127 £81 £80 £288

Understand the Condition of our Assets

Sustainable Asset Risk and Prioritisation Modelling

£79,344 £43,751 £50,321 £173,416

Helicopter Mounted Partial Discharge Locator

£340 £118 £270 £728

Develop Commercial Solutions and Products

Smart Power Distribution £0 £12,717 £0 £12,717

Collaborative Programmes

Energy Innovation Centre £37,547 £24,070 £23,840 £85,457

Power Networks Research £17,665 £11,324 £11,216 £40,205


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Academy

Collaborative ENA R&D Programme

£20,463 £13,118 £12,992 £46,573

TOTAL £1,160,237 £1,218,005 £675,579 £3,053,822

Table 3: Allocation of expenditure per project and licence area

Please note that for readability, all the figures in the report have been rounded to the nearest £ or £k as appropriate.

The next section presents the highlights from our innovation programme, and some of the key

projects carried out under the Innovation Funding Incentive, the Low Carbon Network Fund and the

Energy Technologies Institute.

Portfolio highlights

Our IFI and LCNF projects have again delivered a number of successful outcomes. The next few

pages show innovations which:

Enable network and other data to be easily combined, visualised and analysed

Have demonstrated a new technology for remote control of the low-voltage (LV) network and which is currently manually operated

Simplify complex site-specific and safety-critical calculations, to speed up design and quoting (earthing design tool)

Have made a multi-million pound saving on 33kV and 132kV overhead line circuit upgrades

We are also happy to demonstrate that we are leveraging other sources of funding. Our work with the

Energy Technologies Institute culminated in the commissioning of a Fault Current Limiter in May

2013.


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Highlights


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Distribution Network Visibility (DNV)

The project has developed visualisation software that will allow UK Power Networks to evaluate the

benefits that can be derived from improved use of existing Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), better

visualisation of available data, and enhanced monitoring of the distribution network.

Case Study – Overloaded Transformer Replacement Deferral

A transformer rated at 500kVA located at a secondary substation

in Bromley High Street had been referred to the distribution

planning team for upgrade to a higher rated one. Maximum

Demand Indicator (MDI) readings taken at site over the years

suggested that the transformer was overloaded and should be

replaced.

Analysis:

The DNV application, developed as part of the project, provides the load history of the transformer for

the past two years suggesting very little time had been spent above 500 kVA and the transformer

does not need immediate replacement. The data used in the analysis below is the load (kVA) data

collected from the RTU at site which is measuring current and voltage at the LV tails of the

transformer.

Figure 4 below shows half hourly average kVA for past two years indicating a typical winter peak

demand. Figure 5 shows the average daily kVA for December 2012 illustrating the available capacity

during the day.

Figure 4: Loading in kVA plotted over 2011 to

2013

Figure 5: Average daily load profile over December

2012

The Load Duration curve for the past five years also showed that the percentage of time the

transformer has been over 100% utilised is very small and the transformer has never been above

120% utilisation.

Conclusions:

From the analysis above it is suspected that the MDI readings are incorrect and distribution planning

will not require the replacement of the transformer. This decision will be taken once load readings

have been taken at site and are seen to agree with the readings that the RTU is reporting for the

same time period.

Transformer MDI Readings

2006 300 kVA

2007 576 kVA

2009 792 kVA

2011 756 kVA


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Business Benefits

Being able to quickly assess the historic transformer utilisation enables the business to confirm MDI

readings and correctly identify transformers needing replacement. The analytical tools enable the

time of day of maximum demand and the average daily load profile to be visualised as well as the

load duration curve to enable an assessment of the effect of load growth and the connection of new

load. Deferring a secondary substation transformer replacement by five years has an equivalent value

benefit in today’s terms of £50k.

Other visualisations and capabilities

In addition to the visualisations shown above, the DNV application also allows the user the ability to carry out investigations via the GIS and Network Report functionalities as seen in Figures 6 to 9.

Load profiles:

Advanced Network Analytics (Reports)

Figure 6: GIS functionality showing secondary

substation load profiles, red indicating industrial

load, yellow commercial load and blue residential

load

Three phase visualisations:

Figure 7: Network wide report functionality with the

ability to run reports based on a number of

parameters

Planner tool:

Figure 8: Three Phase Pin functionality for viewing

3 phase monitoring data simultaneously on a GIS

map

Figure 9: A network planner’s tool for quickly

viewing multiple HV feeders loading over a chosen

time period


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Smart Urban Low Voltage Network

In order to facilitate smarter management and use of the LV network, UK Power Networks and TE

Connectivity have collaborated as part of an IFI project. This resulted in the development of a new

solid-state switching technology for use on the LV distribution network, in the form of retrofit, remotely

controllable, FM/FB (fault make/fault break) circuit breakers and FM/LB (fault make/load break)

switches.

The prototype devices developed during the IFI project have been installed for approximately 12

months, and key functionality expected to deliver benefits in the planned large scale LCNF Tier 1

demonstration of the technology (such as transient fault identification and remote network

reconfiguration) have been successfully evaluated.

Case Study – Remote Network Reconfiguration & Load Transfer

Remote network reconfiguration to transfer load from one substation to another has been

demonstrated and verified by the half-hourly load monitoring data collected prior to and after the

network reconfiguration.

Figure 10 shows the IFI trial network running as normally configured.

Daily load profile, link box 61552 (Way 2) IFI trial network (normal running arrangement)

Figure 10: Average daily load profile at link box 61552 (way 2), and IFI trial network diagram (normal

running arrangement)

The circuits in highlighted in pink are fed from substation 61552, and the blue highlighted circuits are

fed from substation 60663.

The substations supply three link boxes (underground electrical junction boxes) on the LV circuit

between them, and all circuits from both substations are configured in a radial running arrangement,

in that they are not directly connected to a circuit from another substation.

A normally open point at Link Box 610699 maintains the radial running of the LV circuit between the

two trial substations.

By remotely moving a normally open point between the two trial substations, LV Control Engineers

have been able to demonstrate the transfer of load from one substation onto another (see Figure 11).


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Daily load profile, link box 61552 (Way 2) IFI trial network (reconfigured)

Figure 11: Average daily load profile at link box 61552 (way 2), and IFI trial network diagram (remotely

reconfigured running arrangement)

In the reconfigured network, substation 61552 is supplying a greater proportion of the LV circuit

between the two substations and therefore sees a corresponding increase in load.

Figure 12 shows the average daily current

through LV way 2 at substation 61552 over

a four week period.

The normally open point was remotely

moved on 9 May, and the transfer of load

can be clearly seen.

A corresponding drop in load at substation

60663 was also observed.

Figure 12: daily average current at 61552 (network reconfiguration on 9 May 2013)

Business Benefits

The ability to remotely or dynamically (based on network condition) reconfigure and monitor the LV

network will enable:

Existing LV plant to be utilised more effectively

High loading issues to be addressed if transfer of load is possible

Improvements in quality of supply performance

A reduction network losses

LV network reinforcement to be better targeted or deferred

REMOTE NETWORK

RECONFIGURATION


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Substation Earthing Design Tool

An Excel based earthing design tool has been developed, and is now actively being used by

connections designers and distribution planning engineers to ensure a much higher degree of

accuracy at optimal cost for secondary distribution (11kV/400V) substations.

Figure 13: Substation earthing design tool

The unique feature of the tool is that it brings all the relevant data together and allows the user to optimise the design interactively. The data available or used by the tool includes:

Source substation earth resistance, fault current, earth potential rise (EPR) and protection

settings (from various UK Power Networks data sources)

Specially designed standard substation earthing arrangements, for which technical parameters

are calculated depending on the soil parameters

Detailed underground cable and overhead line electrical parameters (that include sheath return

impedance and mutual coupling)

Earth contribution from the locally connected network and its cables

Safety limits

The user selects the source substation (from a drop-down list), enters details of the connection to the

new secondary substation (underground cable/overhead line lengths/types), selects the soil resistivity

and the standard earthing arrangement applicable to the new substation. The design tool then

provides the following:

Site specific earth fault current


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Protection clearance time

Earth resistance for new substation

EPR at the new substation resulting from a local fault

Transfer voltage (from the source substation)

Touch and step voltages and how they compare to acceptable limit values

HOT/COLD4 site classification

The user then has an opportunity to optimise the design by altering parameters such as earth rod

length and horizontal electrode used. A form is automatically produced with the design and

construction information needed by the delivery teams.

The first version of the tool is already being used by designers and planning engineers however

refinements are to be added over a six month period to improve the user experience. Use of the

design tool has already highlighted the major contribution of the wider connected legacy cable

network and a previous lack of understanding about its practical application to the reduction in earth

resistance seen at the substation.

Business Benefits

The new design tool brings together the data and complex calculation techniques that allow robust

earthing systems to be designed quickly, increasing safety at secondary substations.

Users are already becoming much more knowledgeable about earthing and are now able to consider

more advanced situations that are related to load growth or network reconfiguration. This will lead to

better and safer designs as UK Power Networks moves away from the coarse assumptions relied

upon previously.

4 If the earth potential rise is greater than 430V the Secondary substation is designated HOT. The HV and LV earths have to be segregated at a HOT and there are also implications for telecoms equipment and operators.


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Increased Capacity of Overhead Lines

UK Power Networks has been involved in several innovation projects relating to overhead lines

(OHLs) over DPCR4 and DPCR5. Most of these have been collaborative projects that have been

carried out in conjunction with some or all of the other DNOs.

A project has been initiated to update our processes, provide useful guides to inform our staff and to

implement new techniques. Reviewing various methodologies we found that time-variable ratings

(Day/Night or Four Season) do not deliver sufficient benefit to be worthwhile implementing.

Investigating demand management for outage scenarios showed promise but requires an

improvement in our data systems to make economic sense. This will be reviewed again in RIIO-ED1

once the data systems have been improved.

Looking to maximise capacity with existing lines and structures, Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR)

scanning was used to prove existing clearances and to determine mitigating actions required (if any)

were a line capacity to be increased.

As more current flows

through an overhead

conductor the temperature

increases, causing it to

“sag” as the metal

expands thereby reducing

ground clearances.

On the trial routes (Pelham

/ Wymondley 132kV,

Sundon / Leighton

Buzzard 33kV) this

technology also identified

existing clearance

violations (when the line

would be operating at

maximum temperature)

that had been missed in

our regular patrols. These

were immediately actioned

for resolution.

Figure 14: OHL route

Business Benefits

This technology determined that with relatively few mitigating actions, capacity could be increased on

the two routes investigated. This has enabled the Pelham / Wymondley reinforcement, a £6.36 million

scheme to increase capacity by re-conductoring a route, to be deferred from 2014/15 until the

conductor condition requires its replacement.

Temperature monitoring is also being installed to ensure that the maximum operating temperature is

not exceeded, in order to prevent damage to the conductor. This would only occur under two co-

incident faults or a single fault during a maintenance outage – assuming that this is under peak load

conditions. This approach is being rolled out across the schemes proposed for re-conductoring in

RIIO-ED1 to determine whether any of this work can be deferred. This includes the use of Light

Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and temperature monitoring of OHLs as a means of assessing

condition problems.


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11kV Fault Current Limiter (Energy Technologies Institute)

UK Power Networks is keen where possible to leverage additional sources of funding and to be

involved in collaborative projects. To that end, UK Power Networks is working with the Energy

Technologies Institute (ETI) on a project to reduce the impact of faults on electricity distribution

networks.

This project involves the development and trial of a revolutionary new fault current limiter (FCL) at a

UK Power Networks’ main substation in Newhaven, East Sussex. This FCL has been

comprehensively tested by a certified high power laboratory in Australia, where it underwent more

than 50 fault tests, before being shipped to the UK. The FCL is now in service on the 11kV

distribution network and it will be demonstrated in operation for two years.

UK Power Networks has fully approved the design and testing, and for the purposes of the

demonstration, is acting as network operation customer. E.ON’s New Build & Technology division is

providing technical assurance expertise and network modelling support.

Developed and manufactured by Israel-based GridON with its Australian partner the Wilson

Transformer Company, this innovative state-of-the-art FCL enables the cost-effective growth and

increased flexibility of electricity distribution systems.

The design is based on combining industry-standard, proven transformer technology with GridON’s

unique and proprietary concept of magnetic flux alteration to saturate the iron core. GridON’s device

offers performance benefits including instant, self-triggering response to a fault, immediate recovery

following clearance of the fault without

network interruption, and suppression of

multiple consecutive faults. It is the first

such fully tested, commercially viable non

superconducting pre-saturated fault

current limiter.

Business Benefits

Removing the fault level constraints

without costly network upgrades enables

the installation of more low carbon and

other electricity generation directly onto

the distribution system, with shorter

connection times and reduced connection

costs. It also enables smart distribution

networks with increased network

efficiency, flexibility, reliability and

resilience. The breakthrough in design

removes the need for superconducting

components which results in a simple,

reliable and low maintenance solution. It is

fully scalable for use at all voltage levels

on both distribution and transmission

systems. This will potentially help minimise

the costs of upgrading the UK’s electricity

distribution and transmission networks

over the next 20 to 30 years.

The Fault current limiter has now been commissioned and is fully operational.


SE1 6NP of 110

Strategy


SE1 6NP of 110

Our guiding principles

Innovation has many different definitions and interpretations depending of the context in which it is

used. UK Power Networks views innovation as introducing something new to our business processes

or distribution network so we can provide a better, cheaper or quicker service than before. Innovation

does not always have to be ground-breaking; many improvements are achieved by smaller step-by-

step improvements.

In UK Power Networks we often think of innovation as either:

Incremental innovation: continuous evaluation to achieve gradual improvements of our business

efficiency, for example by using small remote controlled helicopters to carry out overhead line

inspections

Disruptive or transformational innovation: redefining the way we run our business or network,

embodied in our Low Carbon Network Fund (LCNF) projects to trial Smart Grid technologies

Why Do We Innovate?

In UK Power Networks we innovate to identify opportunities for developing new or more efficient

services, processes or solutions. This rationale for innovation contains two vital elements which are

at the heart of our approach to innovation:

Value to our stakeholders – if we cannot identify how a proposed innovation will deliver value to

our stakeholders then we do not proceed with it. We are clear of our duties to serve customers;

support the economic recovery; and facilitate the government’s carbon reduction targets. Our

innovations deliver across all of these goals

Continuous improvement – we are committed to deliver continuous improvement of our services,

processes and solutions. This commitment covers the entirety of UK Power Networks, including

customer relations, new connections, management of our substation assets, the remote

workforce, health, safety and sustainability, our construction programme and back office

functions, rather than being focused only on specific areas

How Do We Innovate?

We undertake innovation by a variety of approaches that are tailored to achieving effective outcomes

and value for money. Our innovation projects draw on internal and external resources so that we take

advantage of best advice and experience, we adopt the best techniques, and we build new in-house

knowledge for the future. This leads us to work with large and small manufacturers, academia,

specialist advisers, community organisations and other stakeholder representatives.

In order to deliver innovation of the scale that we believe is required, we access funding from a variety

of sources over and above our own financial support. We will naturally seek to optimise our use of

available income from the IFI, LCNF, NIA, NIC or third party funding agencies. As we identify new

innovation ideas, they are scoped out to the extent that is required in order to understand the

associated costs, benefits and risks. We then evaluate if the potential project will deliver appropriate

new value on a self-funding basis and decide whether or not to proceed. Where the benefits are not

immediately quantifiable or available, but could be substantial, we will seek to deliver the project using

the other available innovation funding mechanisms.

There will also be circumstances where we identify technology development activities which we

regard as worthwhile but may not be eligible for funding; in these scenarios we will determine on a

case-by-case basis if the potential value is sufficiently high for us to self-fund. An example of this was

the Green Rhino filtration bag, which was developed with a manufacturer and offers a means to

remove water from an excavation, by ensuring that any contaminants are held in the bag and

disposed of whilst the remaining water is released.


SE1 6NP of 110

We actively engage in the ENA Research and Development (R&D) working group and we collaborate

with other DNOs on specific projects. Participating in collaborative projects is a good way of delivering

value for money for customers, sharing information and results across our industry.

Those innovation activities or projects that are selected for delivery are actively monitored to clearly

identify the business case for innovation throughout their delivery lifecycle. This will help us ensure

that the expected value to be delivered remains on target, and enables us to monitor its realisation

after delivery. This is formalised in a set of ‘stage gates’ including an after-the-event post investment

appraisal, in line with project management best practice.

The Future Networks Team is responsible for maintaining balance within the overall portfolio of

innovation projects. Our balanced portfolio contains a mix of:

Projects addressing short, medium and long term issues from across our innovation themes;

Projects that are high and low risk

Projects to inform decision making or that are a step further and are likely to result in practical

changes to our internal engineering policies

Projects that are yet further developed and are trialling full-scale new technology solutions (e.g.

LCNF Tier 2 projects)

Projects which are addressing both technical and commercial challenges

Projects being funded collaboratively and those which are contracted directly to UK Power

Networks

Projects that involve external partners and suppliers, so that the portfolio is neither too diverse in

its relationships nor too dependent on a few critical relationships.

How Do We Make Innovations Business As Usual?

Our innovation projects will only be successful if we embed the new knowledge into our ‘Business as

Usual’ (BaU) practices to improve the way we work and serve our customers.

The integration of innovation sponsors at a senior level within the directorates in the company is an

important part of this process. Their senior roles allow them to be fully aware of the working practices

and day-to-day challenges; therefore, they are best placed to drive the company through change.

We have developed a systematic approach that is being integrated into our company policies and

procedures. This includes management oversight through project sponsorship and tracking

mechanisms to ensure closed-loop governance. These governance mechanisms ensure that network

innovation project outputs are consistently embedded into BaU solutions and become part of our

toolkit for planning and operational activities at all stages in the asset life cycle.

An important requirement at this stage is to adopt the knowledge and skills to deliver the outcomes of

demonstration projects and make solutions suitable for deployment at scale. To assist the transition to

BaU for our network innovation we have developed and implemented an approach we call the Smart

Network Plan (SNP). The SNP is a comprehensive transitioning plan and governance process which

gives confidence that the outputs of network innovation projects are migrated smoothly into BaU

solution options that can be adopted at scale throughout the RIIO-ED1 period and beyond.


SE1 6NP of 110

Capability Themes Areas

Figure 15 below shows the seven themes into which we organise our innovation activities. These

themes describe the actions that need to be carried out to deliver innovation in a cost effective and

timely manner.

Figure 15: UK Power Networks’ innovation themes

The five themes at the centre of the diagram (labelled 1-5) are critical success factors in the service that we offer to current and potential customers. The two themes shown in the outer ring (labelled 6 and 7) describe a more interactive relationship with our customers, whether directly or through energy suppliers, aggregators and other market entities. 1 Managing asset risk and improving fault performance At the centre of the diagram is the most basic innovation theme. This will correspond to all activities or innovation which we need to carry out in order to fulfil our central function of serving existing customers and managing risks to our electrical assets. Examples of innovation that falls into this category are investigations into improved fault restoration techniques and methods which have the potential to improve reliability of customer supply. 2 Understand current and future performance of the 11kV and LV network The change in demand and the introduction of micro-generation will bring new pressures to the parts of our network which are currently least visible to us in real-time. This includes changes to the Low Voltage (LV) network and 11kV (or in some cases 6.6kV) feeders and the load cycle on our assets. It is important to understand, for example, their ability to dissipate heat and thereby cool down between peaks of high load. Understanding of the loading on the network is essential to the service improvements that we are seeking to make in time-to-connect and cost of connection.

Managing

asset risk and

improving fault

performance5

4

3

2

1

7

6


SE1 6NP of 110

3 New options to release capacity at 11kV, 33kV and 132kV This theme is strongly targeted to facilitate the low carbon economy. We are currently exploring the particular cases in which a commercial solution such as DSR may provide a way to avoid reinforcing the network. We are aware that the driver for these solutions is the greatly increased demand peaks which we might see as a result of the low carbon uptake. There are immediate applications for DSR, such as managing the load transfers that are required to support a wider 132kV reinforcement scheme; but our research intensity is based on the wider challenges arising as a result of the low carbon economy. Similarly, we are exploring the use of dynamic line rating technologies as a means of releasing network capacity. 4 Develop commercial solutions and products The alternatives that are explored throughout our innovation strategy are analysed in order to be implemented and therefore contracted. Therefore, in line with identifying the new options to release capacity at 11kV, 33kV and 132kV with our existing assets, it is critical to understand the commercial implications of the new technologies. This implies having a specific innovation theme related to developing commercial solutions and products to support the technological solutions. 5 Understand the condition of our assets Just as understanding the current and future performance of the 11kV and LV network, it is important for UK Power Networks to understand the condition of our assets. This will be essential to meet the efficiency savings that we have set for ourselves on our existing inspection and maintenance expenditure and asset replacement expenditure. 6 Leveraging I&C demand response and dispatchable generation The theme ‘Leveraging I&C demand response and dispatchable generation’ expresses a series of actions which UK Power Networks needs to take and capabilities which it needs to develop, in order to capitalise on the opportunities offered by Industrial & Commercial (I&C) demand and generation. Historically, the distribution network has been a passive network with a one-way power-flow towards end customers. This model will continue to change into a two-way network through the widespread adoption of DG, back-up generation, and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) schemes. A significant number of our I&C customers firmly view the distribution network as a two-way network in which they can make use of latent back-up generation capacity in the system reserve market. This capability could equally be deployed by the DNO to support the network in critical periods. Our outlook, customer interactions and back-office systems need to adapt to this and capitalise on it. 7 Managing residential and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) consumer demand The theme ‘Managing residential and SME consumer demand’ recognises the unprecedented opportunity represented by the roll-out of half-hourly smart meters to every residential and SME premises. Currently a proportion of the population have their electric home heating controlled or timed by Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) technology. Smart meters will provide the opportunity to expand this small set of directly controlled customers and to introduce tariff-based incentives or additional offers which are more visible and immediate to the consumer.


SE1 6NP of 110

Possible future

Present

Distribution Network Operator (DNO)

Non-flexible demand Non-controllable distributed generation (DG)

Distribution System Operator (DSO)

Technical Aggregation

Flexible demand

EV

s

He

at

Co

olin

g

Wh

ite

g

oo

ds

Sto

rag

e

Dispatchable resources

Ne

two

rk

sto

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e

DG

co

ntr

acts

De

man

d

resp

onse

Non-regulated

An

cilla

ry s

erv

ice

s

En

ab

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g

infr

astr

uctu

re

Co

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erc

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ag

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n

Transition to a Distribution System Operator We strongly believe that the challenges we face require a radical change from the current business, and to a future in which DNOs become ‘Distribution System Operators (DSOs)’. This change is being strongly debated by government and the industry. It is clear that the DSO future defines a direction of travel for the DNOs which will take many years to navigate and with a great deal of uncertainty regarding timing, technologies and customer behaviour. The move from the present DNO to the possible future DSO, which innovation will play a key role in, is illustrated below.

What is a Distribution System Operator?

A Distribution Network Operator (DNO) continues to build in response to growth in maximum or peak demand. A DNO does not have the ability or desire to influence demand and generation, and tends to introduce flexibility only to the extent that it supports existing regulatory priorities (such as to reduce supply interruptions and the risk of catastrophic asset failure).

By contrast, a Distribution System Operator (DSO) has access to a portfolio of responsive demand, storage and controllable generation assets that can be used to actively contribute to both distribution network and wider system operation. A DSO builds and operates a flexible network with the ability to control load flows on its network. The combination of a highly flexible network and access to demand and generation response allows the DSO to contribute to the increasing challenge of encouraging demand to follow generation.


SE1 6NP of 110

Individual Project Reports


SE1 6NP of 110

Managing Asset Risk and Improving Fault Performance


SE1 6NP of 110

Automated Asset Registration (Completed)

Description of Project

Investigation into the use of Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in order to improve and automate various aspects of the asset-registration process.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £0 £0 £0

Internal £0 £0 £0

Total £0 £0 £0

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the total circuit length in

each licence area.

Expenditure in Previous

(IFI) Financial Years

External £29,652

Internal £2,682

Total £32,334



This project has now closed and no further expenditure has been

incurred.

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External + UK Power

Networks)

£32,334

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

Project Completed

Technological Area and

/ or Issue Addressed by

Project

The first phase of this project explored technologies to support asset

registration and tracking to improve the visibility and management of

assets. Current processes can lead to inadequate visibility of assets for

short periods of time, causing issues and delays in the event of recalls

or faults.

Type(s) of Innovation

Involved

Technological

substitution

from different

application

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score

15 -4 19

Expected Benefits of

Project

Benefits, if automated asset registration were adopted, would include:

Improved productivity and efficiency of logistics staff and reduced

data entry

Improved investment decisions facilitated by better data

Definition of information standards and asset data requirements for

network operators

Easier identification of all affected assets in stock in the event of

equipment defects

Reduced need for data entry on commissioning assets, leading to

improved efficiency and reduced staff-time on site

Expected Timescale to

Adoption 2014/15

Duration of benefit

once achieved 10-15 Years


SE1 6NP of 110

Probability of Success 30%

Project NPV (Present

Benefits – Present

Costs) x Probability of

Success

£48,000

Potential for Achieving

Expected Benefits

Whilst the RFID technology performed well in the operational tests, the

investments required to integrate the use of tracking technology into

the existing processes are expected to be relatively high, and may

impact the feasibility of implementing the technology.

Project Progress

March 2013

No further developments were carried out in the past 12 months.

Recommendations for alternative and lower-cost improvements to the

registration process were made as a starting point for the development

of more advanced asset-tracking capabilities. Some outputs of the

research have been incorporated into the development of a ‘Small

Assets Data Solution’.

UK Power Networks will consider whether to implement an automated

registration solution as part of an on-going business transformation

programme.

Collaborative Partners N/A

R&D Provider Tata Consultancy Services


SE1 6NP of 110

Vegetation Management (Completed)


This project’s overall goal was to provide an improved understanding of

vegetation growth, and the way in which it encroaches on the safety

space around electrical equipment, known as the utility space.

This project is monitoring vegetation growth at 1,300 sites across the

UK and integrating the national database of vegetation growth into

existing vegetation management systems to promote an efficient,

spatially and climatically sensitive management of vegetation.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN



Total £0 £0 £0

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the length of overhead

lines in each licence area.



External £400,218

Internal £36,859

Total £437,077

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative + External

+ UK Power Networks)

£1,740,000 Projected 2013/14 costs for

UK Power Networks Project Completed



Project

Arboriculture

Rate of vegetation growth


Involved Significant

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

17.8 1 16.8


Project

The expected benefits include an integration of results into existing

vegetation management processes. This will enable UK Power

Networks and other collaborating DNOs to determine cutting patterns

and cycle lengths based on potential risks, allowing multiple savings to

be made.


Adoption Year 2012

Duration of benefit once

achieved 20 Years



Benefits – Present Costs) x

Probability of Success

>£4,000,000


SE1 6NP of 110


Expected Benefits

A final report has been submitted to the project partners and the project

is complete.

Project Progress

March 2013

This project is now complete and the final report and associated

deliverables have been provided to project partners.

UK Power Networks is currently investigating ways in which the

knowledge and tools generated by this project can be integrated into the

business to improve the efficiency of tree cutting.

Collaborative Partners Electricity North West, Scottish Power Energy Networks, Western

Power Distribution, National Grid

R&D Provider ADAS


SE1 6NP of 110

Contact Voltage Testing (Completed)


Technical and practical evaluation of a surveying system, previously used in the United States, to detect the presence of voltages on metallic street furniture and DNO apparatus installed in the public highway. The aim of this project is to prevent members of the public being exposed to electrical voltages that have the potential to cause them harm. An evaluation of the system’s potential to provide an innovative and cost effective method for determining the condition of buried underground cable and associated plant, including the identification of any defects present, will also be undertaken.

Expenditure for

Financial Year EPN LPN SPN

External £0 £377,564 £0

Internal £0 £17,112 £0

Total £0 £394,676 £0

The costs have been allocated to LPN as the trial is being carried out in

this licence area.


(IFI) Financial Years This is a new project for 2012/13.

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£ 394,676

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

Project Completed



Project

The project aims to address potential issues in the safety of operating a distribution network, from the exposure of the public and UK Power Networks personnel to potentially hazardous contact voltages present on street furniture. Additionally, the project will look to improve the knowledge of asset condition, via the detection of defects on distribution network underground assets. This will be achieved from the evaluation of technology and working methods not previously used in the United Kingdom.


Involved Incremental

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

15 -1 16


Project

Benefits are expected to include:

The early detection of potentially hazardous contact voltages present on street furniture located in the public highway

Reduction in the number of incidents involving the general public being exposed to potentially hazardous voltages present on street


SE1 6NP of 110

furniture

Detection of defects on underground cables and associated assets such as joints and link boxes, which were not observed during normal routine inspections


Adoption N/A

Duration of benefit

once achieved N/A





Success

Small


Expected Benefits

Unfortunately the system did not perform as expected. It detected a

small number of defects in the trial area, but these were only above

ground, and below ground defects were not detected.

Expected benefits were not achieved during the trial and it is unlikely

that the expected benefits would be realised from a business as usual

deployment of the system.

Project Progress

March 2013

The trial took place ahead of the London 2012 Olympics at locations

where a large number of people were expected to be in the public

highway.

The evaluation of results has shown that the system is capable of

detecting potentially hazardous contact voltages present on street

furniture in the public highway, but the cost of surveying large urban

areas compared to the number of incidents found is prohibitive.

Additionally, a large number of the electrical defects identified were

found to be on the internal wiring within the street furniture, rather than

the DNO’s low voltage network. When such defects were detected, they

were made safe by removing the cut out fuse, and the defects were

reported to the appropriate local authorities.

The technology provider claimed that the system was also capable of

detecting cable faults that were developing underground, such as link

box defects. The work carried out showed that no such defects could be

detected, even when a fault was known to be present.


R&D Provider Power Survey Company


SE1 6NP of 110

National Underground Assets Group (NUAG) (Completed)


This project is being carried out as part of the National Underground Asset Group (NUAG). The aim of this project is to develop and trial the concept of having a UK-wide IT portal to enable anyone planning to undertake excavation in the highway or on private land to request information about the location of utility assets so as to prevent utility strikes and injury to workers, and improve joint working between utilities.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN



Total £0 £0 £0

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the length of underground

cable installed in each of the three licence areas.



External £50,000

Internal £4,522

Total £54,522

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External + UK Power

Networks)

£600,000 Projected 2013/14 costs

for UK Power Networks Project Completed



Project

If applicable only

Reducing utility strikes and injury to workers excavating near utility

assets.



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

11.2 -8 19.2


Project

Reduce the number of utility strikes

Improve safety for teams undertaking excavations

Improve cross sector utility visibility of underground assets


Adoption 2013


achieved On-going

Probability of Success High




Success

Small


Expected Benefits

The trial run by NUAG has been completed during the period April 2012

to March 2013.

The portal will not be adopted by UK Power Networks.


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

The trial undertaken over the last 12 months has proven that sharing

information using the IT portal is no better than the electronic map

system that UK Power Networks has been running for a number of

years.

Furthermore, as a user UK Power Networks did not find it easier to get

the location of asset information from other utilities.

On this basis, UK Power Networks (alongside other utilities) have given

notice to NUAG that we will not be supporting the development of the

NUAG solution any further.

Collaborative Partners

Thames Water (via UKWIR), Southern Gas Networks, National Grid

Gas; Transport for London, City of London Corporation, Technology

Strategy Board (TSB) and BT Openreach.

R&D Providers NUAG with ENVISTA as the main technology provider


SE1 6NP of 110

Tree Growth Regulator


The project is investigating the effect of a tree growth regulator (TGR)

on tree vitality and growth rates. Six field trial sites have been

established, supported by thirteen observational sites throughout the UK

to represent a diverse range of bio-climatic zones. There are two sites in

each of the participating network operator’s licence areas. Tree species

selected for TGR evaluation were chosen to represent those that occur

commonly near overhead networks, and where both the landowner and

the DNO may find mutual benefit in using TGRs to manage growth and

health of trees.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £1,179 £1 £421


Total £1,222 £1 £436





External £89,211

Internal £11,101

Total £100,312

Total Project Costs


+

UK Power Networks)


for UK Power Networks

External £ 17,600

Internal £1,000

Total £18,600



Project

Ability of tree growth regulators to manage rate of vegetation growth

and reduce maintenance costs, whilst improving vitality of vegetation.



Project Benefits

Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score

15.4 -2 17.4


Project

The expected outputs from the project will be data and information on

the effect of paclobutrazol (PBZ) on tree growth rates across a range of

species and bioclimatic areas. This data will be used to apply for a

licence for the use of PBZ for utility vegetation management.

PBZ could then be used as part of utility vegetation programmes to

reduce growth rates on restricted cut sites and reduce overall vegetation

management costs. This would also reduce the disturbance to

landowners and the high costs of returning each year to maintain

clearances from locations where vegetation management is limited.

Expected Timescale to Adoption in 2014 Duration of benefit once 20 Years


SE1 6NP of 110

Adoption achieved





Success

>£1,000,000


Expected Benefits

All objectives to date have been achieved.

There is a strong potential that the project will deliver the expected

benefits.

Project Progress

March 2013

During 2009 six field trials were established supported by 13

observational sites to study the effects of the plant growth regulator

paclobutrazol (PBZ) on tree vitality and growth.

In year one (the year that PBZ was applied) very little influence of

PBZ on tree vitality at each site was observed

In year two, a significant influence was recorded at each field site

By year three the influence had reduced indicating that the trees did

not respond as significantly as in year two

This year’s results support the results obtained in the previous year

suggesting that the effects after three years are starting to “wear off” in

some but not all species of tree. Effects of PBZ on vitality and growth

varied between tree species but, irrespective of tree species or field site

location, no phototoxic symptoms have been observed.

The project is now entering its final year and the data collected in this

year will complete the field trials. This data will then be analysed and the

results will be used to obtain a license for the use of PBZ to control

vegetation in the vicinity of electricity networks.

Collaborative Partners Scottish and Southern Energy, Western Power Distribution, Northern

Powergrid

R&D Provider Bartlett Tree Experts, ADAS


SE1 6NP of 110

Overhead Line Incipient Fault Location


This project aims to trial a solution to locate faults on overhead lines,

using detection points installed on the HV overhead network.

The objectives are to:

Help identify more rapidly network sections containing faults

Predict and accurately locate a potential fault on the system before

it occurs

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £82,361 £39 £29,400

Internal £15,447 £7 £5,514

Total £97,808 £46 £34,914





External £305,668

Internal £27,715

Total £333,383

Total Project Costs


+

UK Power Networks)

£659,000

Projected 2013/14 costs


External £116,000

Internal £89,000

Total £205,000



Project

Overhead line fault mechanisms and the extent to which they are

associated with recognisable, repeatable waveforms

The location of faults based on measuring time-of-arrival of the

waveforms


Involved Radical

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

16 0 16


Project

The expected benefits of the project are:

Development of a proactive approach towards decreasing

interruption duration

Reduce the switching required to locate faults

Reduction in recurring faults


Adoption 2014


achieved >10 years

Probability of Success 50% Project NPV (Present

Benefits – Present Costs) £215,000


SE1 6NP of 110

x Probability of Success


Expected Benefits

Four 11kV circuits have been identified for installation of the system.

The circuits have a relatively high historical fault-rate which should give

a greater amount of data for analysis and also a higher chance of

realising the benefits in the trial stage.

Project Progress

March 2013

An Operating Standard covering the installation and operation of the

equipment (to ensure that the deployment of the technology can be

undertaken safely) has been written and approved. UK Power Networks

requested that additional testing is undertaken by Altea to provide

confidence that the equipment is safe and complies with international

standards. The testing was successfully carried out in April 2012, and

confirmed that the technology is suitable for connection to our 11kV

networks.

Equipment has been delivered to enable the completion of installations

to two of the identified circuits. Once the system is installed and proven

to be functioning as expected, a further two circuits will be equipped.

Collaborative Partner Electricity North West

R&D Providers ALTEA B.V


SE1 6NP of 110

Earthing Information System


The Earthing Information System project will develop a Geographical

Information System (GIS) to assist the installation of earthing systems

for secondary distribution and pole-mounted substations. The system

will provide a graphical presentation of ground conditions and predict

the type and quantity of earthing required for a particular earthing

resistance.

Earthing rural substations can be very labour intensive, with the need to

drive earthing rods vertically downwards into the ground to a depth of

12 metres, to achieve the necessary 10 ohm resistance. Rods are

usually driven by pneumatic tools or by hand. Where hard ground

restricts the depth of installation an array of rods may be installed at

shallower depth, or an earthing system is extended some distance from

the substation to achieve the required resistance. This project aims to

improve the prediction of costs of earthing before on-site work

commences by providing a desk-top indication of the earthing required.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £36,153 £23,176 £22,954

Internal £2,284 £1,464 £1,450

Total £38,437 £24,640 £24,404

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the number of customers

connected in each licence area.



External £437,165

Internal £51,611

Total £488,776

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£590,509 Projected 2013/14 costs for

UK Power Networks

External £12,252

Internal £2,000

Total £14,252



Project

A network-wide information system that will help network planners to

improve planning and costing of new and replacement earthing

installations.



Project

Benefits Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

9.4 0 9.4


Project

The expected benefits are:

Accurate estimation of the cost of installation of rural ground earthing systems

Advice on the number and techniques required for earthing installations

Improved employee safety


SE1 6NP of 110


Adoption 2014


achieved 20 Years



Benefits – Present Costs)


£100,000


Expected Benefits

The potential for integrating the outputs of this project into the business

is high. An engineering design standard has been produced to

communicate the earthing information system to the business.

The use of the earthing information system is also being incorporated

into the various earthing design and construction standards as they are

reviewed and updated.

Project Progress

March 2013

Over the last year, the project has further refined the soil resistivity model based on soil samples and laboratory investigation:

The earthing maps have been revised to include both the Phase I (vertical rod preference) and Phase II (horizontal conductor and shallow vertical rods preference) earthing prognoses along with flags to indicate areas that are susceptible to climate change

Climate modelling has been carried out to determine areas that might be prone to soil moisture deficit up to the 2080s. These have been combined with estimates of soil and geology susceptibility to climate change (based on the composition of the soil and geology) in order to generate a risk matrix of areas where earthing systems might be prone to deviation from the original specification

A series of qualitative map layers have been created for the different time periods/climate models, and have been added as flags to the earthing maps. The qualitative climate modelling has been used to generate, through modelling, some estimates of the quantitative changes in soil and geology resistivity that might occur from climate change. A flag for the maps to indicate areas that are prone to seasonal variations is also under construction

The project will now concentrate on bringing all of the data and maps

together for incorporation into the UK Power Networks’ NetMAP GIS

system.

Collaborative Partner Western Power Distribution

R&D Providers British Geological Survey and Cranfield University


SE1 6NP of 110

Developing Long Term Asset Risk Replacement Modelling


The aim of this project is to redefine and expand currently limited statistical models, to create a wider and more accepted standard for use with higher volume and lesser data populated asset categories. Complex risk modelling programmes require extensive amounts of data to work. The asset groups selected in this project (e.g. civil assets) are in the stages of having their data completeness, accuracy and timeliness improved. The aim is also to provide a capable platform for calculating Health and Criticality Index for low value high volume assets such as cable pits, based on limited amount of data, and plan interventions. The model methodology produced will be used as the first line approach for modelling new asset categories, before progressing them to more complex modelling tools.

Expenditure for


External £24,845 £13,700 £15,757

Internal £921 £508 £584

Total £25,766 £14,208 £16,341

The costs have been allocated in proportion to number of

substations in each licence area.



Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£152,000

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £90,260

Internal £7,500

Total £97,760



Project

Modelling of future condition of assets and recommend

replace/refurbish/maintain decisions on individual components

Inconsistency in asset modelling and information gathering

Preparation for an optimisation which will include plant loading in

distribution assets or child asset aggregation in civil assets as

parameters



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

10.2 -6 16.2


Project


Greater consistency of asset health data and forecasts

Enhanced trending capability

Improved confidence of long asset planning

Integration of risk based approach to asset management


Adoption 2013

Duration of benefit

once achieved 5 years


SE1 6NP of 110





Success

£200,000


Expected Benefits

The models have been collaboratively designed by UK Power Networks

Asset Engineers and Decision Lab to ensure that all the available

knowledge is used.

Excel models have been provided as demonstration versions.

This project is on track to be completed by July 2013.

Project Progress

March 2013

Initial models have successfully been demonstrated to UK Power

Networks’ Asset Engineers. A number of suggestions were made to

improve the modelling capabilities (e.g. by including additional condition

measures) and improve the performance of the platform.

A significant achievement has been to bring Civil assets in line with

electrical assets, providing UK Power Networks with the capability to

model HIs and CIs for key assets whose primary task is to protect the

electrical assets. The model uses age and condition data to produce a

final risk score that can be used to plan future intervention strategies.

Several reports on modelling flow, data specification and modelling

methodology have been issued to UK Power Networks.

Once completed, the project will provide a platform to model LV

Switchgear, Linkboxes, Distribution Transformers, Cable Pits and Civil

Assets.


R&D Provider Decision Lab


SE1 6NP of 110

Development of technologies to extend the life of Link boxes and mitigate the impact of cable pit disruptive failures


UK Power Networks has been working closely with Black & Veatch to develop a strategy for the management of cable pits, and to assess new technologies for use on cable pit covers. The strategy is similar to what is used in the management of link boxes and has been incorporated into the cable pit inspection programme. This will enable UK Power Networks to prioritise the inspection of assets. Through the inspection programme, key asset condition data will be recorded and used to model future asset condition and replacement strategies. Safety risks will be reduced through a mitigation strategy involving the use of innovative cable pit footway and highway cover designs not previously used in the UK. These covers will have the capability to vent cable pit chambers, be locked and tethered, and have the potential for built in monitoring equipment capable of sending information about the state of the cable pit and covers to a central location. In addition, the project will assess the potential for link box refurbishment. Work will be carried out at the ERA Technology laboratory to inspect 50 link boxes that have been removed from the distribution network, in order to establish the root causes of failure, together with possible mitigation of defects. Work is also planned on prospective short circuit current (PSCC) testing and cyclic loading tests, and testing will be undertaken to determine the suitability of a new frame and cover system.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £36,883 £150,176 £29,253

Internal £1,368 £5,571 £1,085

Total £38,251 £155,747 £30,338

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the number of link boxes

and cable pits in each licence area.



Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£ 714,000

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £ 468,000

Internal £ 20,000

Total £ 488,000



Project

Implementation and evaluation of novel retrofit solutions to mitigate

the impact of cable failures within pits Risk based asset management of cable pits Investigation of link box failure mechanisms and potential innovative

methods for link box refurbishment to prolong asset life


SE1 6NP of 110


Involved Development

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

12.8 -1 13.8


Project


Reduced risks to the public and UK Power Networks staff, through

the continued implementation of mitigation measures


Enhanced civil condition assessment capability

Improved confidence in long term electrical asset degradation

models and early warning of developing faults

Improved integration of risk based approach to asset management


Adoption 2013

Duration of benefit

once achieved 20 Years





Success

£100,000


Expected Benefits

There is high confidence that the work undertaken to produce and

implement a cable pit mitigation strategy will be successful. Confidence

in the effectiveness of the mitigation strategy is expected to build once

inspections progress to a business as usual (BAU) activity.

As the strategy moves into BAU, its success will have a large

dependence on the quality of asset condition data. Therefore, improved

training and inspector understanding of condition and defects will

assure the success of the strategy.

While it is unlikely that incidents involving cable pits will be completely

eliminated, the work to deploy new cable pit footway and highway cover

designs will reduce the impact of these incidents. A number of trial

covers have been installed

Work to date on link boxes has already increased our understanding of

link box failure mechanisms, and it is likely that the next phase of testing

will enhance our link box asset knowledge. While it is currently too early

in the project to determine whether the expected benefits from link box

refurbishment or modified frame covers will materialise.

Overall progress on the project has been positive and it is likely that the

benefits will be realised.


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

Following a number of link box inspections, a Reliability Centred

Maintenance (RCM) report was written in December 2012. It outlines

failure modes, and recommendations on potential design improvements

that could be made to link boxes.

Using the conclusions drawn in the RCM report, a risk-based

assessment model has been created to identify and consider a risk

reduction strategy.

In addition a new link box inspection policy and procedure has been

issued to link box inspectors.

An enhanced cable pit inspection programme which prioritises the

inspection of pits, and includes newly developed policies and

procedures to support the cable pit inspections has been developed.

The inspection programme is expected to be integrated into BAU

activities by June 2013, with 500 inspections expected per week.

As it is unlikely that incidents involving cable pits will be completely

eliminated, work on mitigations and innovations to reduce the risk of

cable failures within pits has also been undertaken. This has led to the

trial installation of four new composite cable pit covers designed to vent

any build-up of gases.

To further enhance the categorisation and identification of cable pits, an

asset health and criticality model has been developed.


R&D Provider Black & Veatch Ltd, ERA Technology Ltd, SSC Ltd


SE1 6NP of 110

Detection of Broken and Low Hanging Conductors


Detection of broken and low hanging conductors is a long standing

issue with UK DNOs and there is no proven technology for the reliable

detection of this condition commercially available.

This project will explore new concept for detecting of Broken and Low Hanging Conductors

Expenditure for


External £31,898 £15 £11,386

Internal £1,183 £0 £422

Total £33,081 £15 £11,808





Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£ 160,000

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £112,000

Internal £3,000

Total £115,000



Project

Review of currently available products that may be capable of detecting broken and low hanging conductors. Following on from this work, new concepts will be explored to determine whether there is potential for development of a new solution.



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

13.4 -2 15.4


Project

Identification and potential development of a solution or solutions

for the detection of broken and low hanging conductors

Increased safety through successful detection and disconnection


Adoption 2014

Duration of benefit






Success

<£100,000


Expected Benefits

Whilst there is potential for demonstrating benefits, there are many

factors that could influence the success of detection, such as the fault

position and fault duration.

If currently available commercial products can be configured to detect

the required conditions, then it is anticipated some benefits in detection

will be derived quickly.


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

A review of commercially available solutions and assessment of current

practices has been completed. It focussed on the review of high

impedance fault detection currently available on the market and

practices adopted by UK DNOs. This indicated that whilst there are

products that claim to have the capability to detect broken conductors,

the measurement and detection methods are not reliable and the

sensitivity to faults at the end of long or lightly loaded feeders could not

be guaranteed.

An assessment focussing on the use of mechanical sensors to detect

broken and low hanging conductors has been undertaken. This

concluded that mechanical detection is prohibitively expensive if applied

to the whole of the overhead line network, and a targeted approach to

higher risk areas (i.e. locations where a failure is more likely to result in

the public coming in contact with the conductor) is more appropriate.

Next steps

Further work is required to understand the effects on conductor tension

as a result of events such as stay failure, broken supports, etc. Once

this is concluded, the use of devices such as load cells, which can

detect mechanical changes and convert them into electrical signals,

may be considered and deployed on a trial basis. Further work is also

required to better understand capabilities of existing products, and

decide whether to engage in further collaborative developments.

An investigation into the detection of broken conductors through change

of Sensitive Earth Fault (SEF) over time will be carried out.

Investigations into the detection through rate of change of capacitance

will not be progressed due to a high probability of it not being

achievable.

Voltage monitoring at the circuit ends will also be investigated. This

would require the installation of voltage monitoring devices on all

phases at circuit ends in order to be completely effective. A lower cost

option would be to only deploy the monitoring devices on circuit ends, or

intermediate positions close to high risk areas.

This part of the project will determine the most effective means of

deployment and issues with establishing the required communications

links.

Collaborative Partners None at this stage.

R&D Provider EA Technology Ltd


SE1 6NP of 110

Earthing Design Tool


The project will develop an Excel based earthing design tool that can be used easily by distribution planning engineers and connections designers to design the earthing for a secondary distribution (11kV/400V) substation. This project uses the outputs from the HV/LV Earthing Transfer IFI project (reported under ENA Collaborative Programme section).

Expenditure for


External £25,264 £16,195 £16,040

Internal £3,097 £1,985 £1,967

Total £28,361 £18,180 £18,007


in each licence area.



Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)



External £13,000

Internal £2,000

Total £15,000



Project

Currently, the only tools available to carry out earthing studies are very complex and costly, and therefore difficult to use by distribution planners and connections designers. This project will address this deficiency by providing a basic earthing design tools that encapsulates the complete earthing design process.


Involved Development

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

11 -3 14


Project Improved productivity at the design stage of new substation projects


Adoption 2014


achieved 10 years





£100,000


Expected Benefits

The potential for achieving the expected benefits is high but is subject to

completion of user acceptance testing.


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

The first version of the tool is being used by designers and planning

engineers. Acceptance testing is taking place and refinements are to

be made over a six month period.

See case study in Highlights section for further details.

Collaborative Partners None

R&D Provider Earthing Solutions


SE1 6NP of 110

Leveraging Industrial and Commercial Demand Response and Dispatchable Generation


SE1 6NP of 110

Bankside Heat Transfer


Substation transformers generate heat, particularly during peak loads.

This heat is normally lost to the environment, often through energy-

intensive forced cooling. The upgraded substation at Bankside, adjacent

to the Tate Modern, has used transformers with water cooled heat

exchangers. It is proposed that the waste heat from the transformers

will be used by the Tate Modern to assist with their space heating. This

will benefit the Tate by providing low carbon heat. The benefits for UK

Power Networks are that less energy will need to be expended within

cooler fans at the substation, and lower maintenance and replacement

cost will be incurred. The overall carbon footprint of the site and assets

will be reduced.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN



Total £0 £0 £0

The costs have been allocated to LPN as the trial is being carried out at

Bankside substation in London.



External £719,080

Internal £95,035

Total £814,115

Total Project Costs


+

UK Power Networks)

£846,115 Projected 2013/14 costs for UK

Power Networks

External £ 30,000

Internal £ 2,000

Total £ 32,000



Project

The oil-to-water heat exchangers at this scale and for this purpose are

novel, as is the specific heating arrangement.



Project Benefits

Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score

4 1 3


Project


Heat used by a third party replacing a high CO2 heat source

Use of energy that would otherwise be lost

Fewer maintenance interventions for cooling

Less energy expended for cooling via less auxiliary electricity

consumption

Lower noise level from coolers


SE1 6NP of 110


Adoption 2013


achieved. Expected to be

commissioned and handed over

to the Tate in late 2013

20 Years


Project NPV (Present Benefits –

Present Costs) x Probability of

Success

£200,000


Expected Benefits

The temperature of the water returning from the transformer heat

exchangers is not as high as predicted. This is primarily because of the

lower than expected load on the transformers and some heat losses in

the coolers. Work is planned in the second half of 2013 to attempt to

increase the water temperature by reducing the flow of water.

There is still the potential to provide benefits for a number of heat

applications. The objective is to pre-heat the general hot water supply at

the Tate Modern, reducing the amount of energy required from the main

boilers to raise the water to the required temperature.

The Tate Gallery is currently exploring the use of this heat in the new

gallery.

Project Progress

March 2013

The work at the Tate is completed permitting the transformer cooling

water to flow to the Tate boiler room. Some small wiring modifications

are in the final stages to permit monitoring at the Tate control centre.

Collaborative Partner Tate

R&D Providers Wilson Transformers and Arup


SE1 6NP of 110

Automated LTDS Diagrams (Completed)


Major demand and generation customers rely on the knowledge of how and where they connect to the network, and public information on the network is contained in our Long Term Development Statement (LTDS). Currently the LTDS and Week 28 (annual report to National Grid) reports are being generated using a variety of software tools, including the network modelling tools Distribution Network Information System (DINIS) and Power System Simulator for Engineering (PSS/E). Information was extracted from these tools and processed in Excel to prepare the final report. This project was initiated to investigate if automating the production of LTDS and week 28 reports is possible with the same structure for all the DNO licence areas. As part of this project, a set of professional schematics for the LTDS, and an automatic report for Week 28 are developed within the existing modelling tool – Digsilent PowerFactory.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £46,589 £29,865 £29,581

Internal £1,728 £1,108 £1,097

Total £48,317 £30,973 £30,678





External £176,269

Internal £15,941

Total £192,210

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)


for UK Power Networks Project Completed



Project

This project addressed the following issues:

Multiple tools for LTDS and Week 28 reporting

The complex calculations involved are prone to human errors

Takes a two person-year effort for the production of reports once a

year



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

7 -2 9


Project

The benefits are expected to include:

Faster production of LTDS and Week 28 reports

Improved consistency of data models

Enables UK Power Networks to more efficiently address the various

queries from National Grid and general public on demand

Automated Reports will enable more accurate reporting and reduce

manual work


SE1 6NP of 110

Infrastructure planners no longer have to produce the Fault Level

tables in the LTDS manually

Schematics would no longer need to be maintained in Microsoft

Visio

A single source of data removes the need to align and check data

from separate sources


Adoption 2012


achieved 5 years





Success

£ 300,000


Expected Benefits

The project has been successfully completed.

Project Progress

March 2013

Further work to align the network model to National Grid structure for

Week 28 outputs was successfully concluded in November 2012. The

2012 Week 28 output and LTDS were completed using the new

automated tool.

Additional improvements were identified and implemented during the

production of the outputs, which primarily related to the model structure

and naming conventions. This work was funded by UK Power Networks.

The development of an internal process to improve the efficiency of

outputs verification will conclude in 2013.


R&D Provider Tata Consultancy Services


SE1 6NP of 110

Managing Residential and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Consumer Demand


SE1 6NP of 110

Supergen 3 HiDEF Highly Distributed Energy Futures


The HiDEF programme, funded by the EPSRC (Engineering and

Physical Sciences Research Council) researches the essential

elements of a decentralised system that could be implemented over the

period 2025 to 2050, to enable all end users to participate in system

operation and real-time energy markets.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £9,227 £5,915 £5,858

Internal £373 £239 £237

Total £9,600 £6,154 £6,095


in each licence area.



External £61,000

Internal £5,704

Total £66,704

Total Project Costs


+

UK Power Networks)

£4,500,000 Projected 2013/14 costs


External £0

Internal £1,000

Total £1,000



Project

The HiDEF programme has 5 workstreams: Decentralised Energy,

Decentralised Control, Decentralised Network Infrastructure,

Decentralised Participation, Decentralised Policy and Macro Impact

Assessment.


Involved Radical

Project

Benefits Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score

7.2 -2 9.2


SE1 6NP of 110


Project

Outputs from the HiDEF workstreams will inform debates that are

current in the industry and enable the following benefits to be realised:

Models of single and multiple DER (Distributed Energy Resource)

units have been developed to assess the thermodynamic analysis,

life cycle assessment and environmental cost benefit analysis,

providing a quantification of performance

Development of control solutions for single units, cells containing

multiple DERs, and multiple cells, with a focus on security and

resilience of communications and control systems

Support and investment guidance for future decentralised network

operation through the development of HV/LV architectures and

planning tools

Design of a distributed market place, to enable the investigation of

market based response, trading contracts and products, defining the

components essential to market realisation

Inform future policy decisions by reviewing current policy delivery

mechanisms in the UK, comparing market structures & examining

the potential for alignment with various market aggregations


Adoption

Year 2013

onwards


achieved 20 Years





£2,000,000


Expected Benefits

Good progress has continued, and a number of briefing documents have been submitted to the government. http://www.supergen-hidef.org/Publications/Pages/BriefingPapers.aspx Industrial partners have utilised the models developed in their LCNF projects, and training / dissemination workshops have been planned in September 2013, which will ensure that learning is communicated effectively.

http://www.supergen-hidef.org/Publications/Pages/BriefingPapers.aspx


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

The Decentralised Energy Workstream has completed the realisation of open source models of energy storage, energy conversion and energy demand components. The library of domestic building models has now been complemented with commercial building models, featuring hybrid and low carbon systems. Further progress has been made in the realisation and testing of new cell (small network area) control solutions using the hardware rigs and simulation environments. A number of new power and energy system analytical techniques and tools have been developed in the Decentralised Network Infrastructure workstream. These have been applied to the analysis of industrial case studies. Projects at Ebbw Vale, Ashton Hayes and Shetland have been supported, and the data sets and tools in relation to DSM, EV & HP, thermal and electrical storage refined using the experience gained. The Decentralised Participation team have developed stochastic optimisation techniques and novel pricing techniques that help maximise the expected portfolio of DG and DR services. Furthermore, the hardware platform showcasing frequency response functions for smart meters has now been demonstrated at a smart meter exhibition.

The Decentralised Policy and Macro Impact Assessment team has

continued their assessment of the effectiveness of alternative policy

measures at locations including Glasgow, Brighton & Hove, and Milton

Keynes. The ability to conduct macro-economic modelling, incorporating

the impact of renewables and advanced generation deployment has

been enhanced through improvements to the established Computable

General Equilibrium model to incorporate household energy demands.

This will now feature in on-going economic modelling activity.

The project continues to support a number of engagement and impact

case studies, including a number of LCNF projects. The value of HiDEF

datasets, simulation & analysis tools, and models have been assessed

with academic partners, industrial colleagues, community groups, and

agency staff. This has been complemented with dissemination and

engagement, including 37 new publications, a HiDEF workshop in

London regarding “The Future of Community Energy”, and participation

in a variety of conferences and meetings.


EPSRC and the following industrialists: Community Energy Scotland,

Delta Energy & Environment, Intelligent Power Systems, National Grid,

Western Power Distribution, Scottish Power Energy Networks, Scottish

and Southern Energy.

R&D Provider

University of Strathclyde supported by: University of Bath, Cardiff

University, University of Oxford, Loughborough University, Imperial

College London.


SE1 6NP of 110

Active Distribution networks with full integration of Demand and distributed energy RESourceS (ADDRESS) (Completed)


The project aims to deliver a comprehensive commercial and technical

framework for the development of “Active Demand” in the smart grids of

the future. ADDRESS started in June 2008 and is investigating how to

effectively stimulate the participation of domestic and small commercial

consumers in the power system markets. The project also addresses

the provision of services to different power system participants.

ADDRESS is European Commission funded FP7 project.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN



Total £0 £0 £0





External £-4,864

Internal £12,029

Total £7,165

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£12,600,000

Projected 2013/14

costs for

UK Power Networks

Project Completed



Project

The project aims to develop new concepts, strategies and architectures

for services provided by demand and distributed energy resources

(distributed generation and storage) on distribution grids. This entails a

full integration and market-based exploitation of the flexibilities of the

distributed energy resources of the distribution network.



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

11.2 -2 13.2


Project

ADDRESS will develop technical solutions both for the consumers’

premises and at a power system level. The solutions will enable active

demand and allow real-time response to requests from markets and/or

other power system participants.


Adoption Year 2015

Duration of benefit






Success

This project is expected

ultimately to deliver

benefits in the order of

millions of pounds.


SE1 6NP of 110


Expected Benefits

The trials undertaken in France, Spain and Italy, have shown that

demand response services can be achieved. However the operating

costs and the immaturity of supporting market frameworks are indicative

that further information and education is required for large scale uptake.

Project Progress

March 2013

Over the last year, specifications and design of a cost/benefit analysis

tool for active demand deployment have been prepared. Various

business cases for customers, aggregators and DSOs have been

developed.

The field tests in Italy, France and Spain have started, but delays in

recruiting customers has meant that the results of the trials originally

expected in early 2013 have been delayed.

Results and findings from the field tests are expected to be published

mid 2013, when sufficient amount of information has been gathered and

analysed. These will then be used to populate and verify the business

cases developed.

Collaborative Partner

ADDRESS is an Integrated Project supported by the European

Commission under the 7th framework programme. The project website

is www.addressfp7.org

R&D Providers

University of Manchester,

Universidad Pontificia Comillas,

Università di Siena,

Università di Cassino,

ENEL Ingegneria e Innovazione,

VTT,

VITO,

Tecnalia,

KEMA,

Consentec

ENEL Distribuzione,

UK Power Networks,

Iberdrola Distribución Eléctrica,

Vattenfall

EDF-SA,

ENEL Distributie Dobrogea

ABB,

Landis+Gyr,

ZIV

Philips,

Electrolux,

RLtec

Ericsson Espańa,

Alcatel,

Current

http://www.addressfp7.org/


SE1 6NP of 110

Home Based Flexible Demand Management (HBFDM)


The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) project is exploring how residential customers might be engaged in providing responsive demand and control the output of distributed generation on behalf of DNOs. The aim is to develop the scope for a technical solution, consumer proposition and business model which will allow for responsive demand to be utilised before the completion of the UK wide smart metering rollout, and without the involvement of investment from the electricity supplier.

The solution utilises PassivSystems’ open architecture energy management platform to create a scalable load management system, which will coordinate the grid and customer equipment to reduce peak loads. Interruptible demand will be managed remotely utilising broadband or GSM connectivity, without detrimentally impacting the occupant comfort.

PassivSystems control system will understand consumer requirements by monitoring real time environmental variables in the home to build a profile of occupant behaviour, and will utilise local weather data to identify load that may be shed in response to a future DNO requirement.

This project is complementary to the work taking place as part of Low Carbon London, where smart meters are being utilised to modify demand profiles of residential customers.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £-4,597 £-2,947 £-2,919

Internal £9,395 £6,023 £5,966

Total £4,798 £3,076 £3,047



50% of the UK Power Networks cost is funded by the TSB.



Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)

£ 150,302

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £0

Internal £17,458

Total £17,458



Project

The project will investigate the potential for a DNO to leverage Residential Sector Demand Response Services, to address network constraints and/or reduce the impact of network events such as faults.


Involved

Technological

substitution from

different

application

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

7 -3 10


SE1 6NP of 110


Project

It is hoped a roadmap will be formulated which will guide the development and demonstration of a demand response platform for the residential sector.


Adoption 2015

Duration of benefit






Success

£100,000


Expected Benefits

The project outputs will be delivered in September 2013.

There is a high confidence that some demand response can be

delivered by the residential trial participants. This confidence is based

on the automated aspects of the trial, and also aligns with other

residential demand response trials (via tariffs) such as Low Carbon

London.

Project Progress

March 2013

The UK Power Networks team has produced two reports to date:

HBFDM – Current and Future DNO Issues

HBFDM – Modelling Calculation DNO Costs

The main findings of these initial reports are around the uncertainty of

the value of demand response to DNOs. One question raised, which will

be answered as part of the project, is the difference between the

demand response requirements for normal network running

arrangements and outage scenarios (post network faults).

UK Power Networks are currently undertaking work covering the

following four topics:

How can a communication link be established between the home

and the grid?

Analysis of the current and future load growth, and how this will

translate to network reinforcement costs (with demand side action)


How might the DNO reward consumers?

How might we overcome the regulatory barriers?

Collaborative Partners PassivSystems Limited

R&D Provider PassivSystems Limited


SE1 6NP of 110

New Options to Release Capacity at 11kV, 33kV and 132 kV


SE1 6NP of 110

Increased Capacity from Existing Overhead Line Routes


Re-conductoring overhead lines to increase their capacity can often be intrusive, requiring new structures, and as such may be less viable than installing the equivalent (but more expensive) cable circuit. This project is consolidating techniques for maintaining existing line routes and structures but providing greater ratings.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £115,519 £55 £41,236

Internal £22,061 £10 £7,875

Total £137,580 £65 £49,111





External £96,906

Internal £9,190

Total £106,096

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)



External £200,000

Internal £20,000

Total £220,000



Project

Novel conductors for 33kV lines as well as 132kV lines

Re-tensioning and minor modifications to structures

Review of operating regimes (such as post-fault regimes)



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

13 -4 17


Project

The project aims to identify alternative, cheaper interventions to enable reinforcement / re-build of the line to be deferred. In particular, the project will develop a manual and training which articulates design options and trade-offs so that alternative options can be identified at an earlier stage in future projects.


Adoption 1-2 years


achieved 20 Years





Success

£200,000


Expected Benefits

One of the design solutions has been through a full technical design

review and has shown an extremely high likelihood of success. This has

resulted in a £6.36m saving in our current business plan.


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

The project is progressing well, and some of the techniques explored

(e.g. advanced thermal up-rating and dynamic line ratings) for

increasing line capacity are due to be implemented in the next few

months.

Two overhead line routes (a 132kV tower line and a 33kV wood pole

line) have been chosen and various design options reviewed and

assessed. It was determined that in both cases higher capacity is

available from carrying out relatively minor improvement works, which

allowed an increased maximum operating temperature to be applied to

the existing conductors. This has led to neither route being suitable for a

novel conductor, although research into the effects and application of

these conductors has been undertaken.


R&D Provider

Mott McDonald and Manchester University

(The project also builds on work carried out by EA Technology Ltd over

recent years in the Strategic Technology Programme Modules 2 and 5)


SE1 6NP of 110

Urban Transformer Substation


It is often difficult to reinforce circuits in densely populated areas mainly because there is limited physical space available. London substations were commonly built underground, making subsequent alterations expensive and potentially very disruptive during construction.

The project will evaluate if an urban distribution substation developed by a Spanish company (Twelcon) could help address these issues.

The urban substation houses an LV panel, Ring Main Unit (RMU), Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) and Transformer (up to 1,000 kVA). Twelcon currently use continental equipment in the substation; hence development and further testing may be required to ensure that components meet UK Power Networks specifications and perform efficiently and safely within the urban substation environment. The Twelcon substation also has four backlit advertising panels that could be used for public information.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN


Internal £1,124 £620 £713

Total £1,124 £620 £713

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the number of




External £18,805

Internal £1,985

Total £20,790

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)



External £8,000

Internal £1,000

Total £9,000



Project

Reinforcement of stressed areas of the distribution network at 11KV

Relocation of substations which are currently difficult to access,

especially where asset replacement is likely to be expensive

Provide the means to serve urban electric vehicle (EV) charging

infrastructure (including rapid charge units)

Potential solution for locations where aesthetics are important such

as airports


Involved

Technological

Substitution

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

15 -4 19


Project


A reduction in street works disruptions

Provision of additional support for the network; the additional

headroom could enable electric vehicle charging points to

connect to the distribution network

The purchase of the urban substation could be partially offset by


SE1 6NP of 110

revenue generated from the sale of its advertising space


Adoption 2014


achieved 20 Years





Success

The major benefits of the

project are its visual

impact, possibly

unlocking new locations

for substations


Expected Benefits

The following areas have been investigated to determine the potential

for the technology to deliver benefits:

Safety considerations

Suitability of the electrical equipment for a UK electricity distribution

network

Additional testing that may be required if the equipment inside the

enclosure is changed

Cost of the substation

Based on the outcome of these investigations, it has been decided not to proceed with a trial installation and the project will close in 2013.

Project Progress

March 2013

Investigations to determine the suitability of the Urban Substation to be installed on the network and deliver benefits to UK Power Networks have been completed. Whilst the unit has a small footprint and was found to be aesthetically pleasing during a display exhibition, it has been decided that the unit is not technically suited for installation to a typical UK Power Networks urban feeder.

The main reasons were:

The differences between the LV fuse types (size, curve, availability)

used in the UK and mainland Europe

The restricted space within the unit meant that standard UK Power

Networks LV panels could not be used in place of the LV panels for

which the unit was originally designed. The option of developing a

modular panel to overcome the space restriction was explored, but

following evaluation, the required investment was not considered

economic

The unit cost was substantially higher than a similarly rated

traditional substation. This is partly due to the supplier’s business

model, and an expectation that the high initial investment cost can

be offset by revenue streams generated from using the advertising

panels on the side of the substation

Concerns were raised in relation to the ease of operational access,

and the substation’s security from malicious or accidental

interference. Whilst modifications could be made to overcome these

deficiencies, they would require significant redesign to the

enclosure before the substation could be deployed without risk


R&D Provider Twelcon


SE1 6NP of 110

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 2 – Overhead Networks

Description of Project A DNO research and development collaboration hosted by EA

Technology.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £27,049 £17,339 £17,174

Internal £1,304 £836 £828

Total £28,352 £18,175 £18,002





External £296,865

Internal £33,760

Total £330,623

Total Project Costs



£467,791

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £62,639

Internal £10,000

Total £72,639



Project

Overhead networks represent both an electrical and a mechanical

system which must provide strength and support in the face of all

foreseeable weather conditions. The module 2 programme looked at a

number of issues with individual overhead components, either of the

line or the structures supporting it, as well as the performance of the

overall overhead line system, such as its current-carrying capacity.

A full list of projects within the programme can be made available on request.


Involved

Incremental,

Tech Transfer,

Significant,

Radical

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

16 -9 25


Project

The projects have the potential to deliver a number of benefits:

Reduce levels of premature failure of assets

Increase scientific understanding of processes and climatic

conditions leading to icing

Improve our methodology for determining conductor ratings which

will provide greater confidence

A better understanding of novel conductors for new-build or re-

conductoring lines that gives lower capital cost, minimises visual

impact, and improves environmental acceptance


Adoption

Range 1-5 years –

dependent on project Duration of benefit

once achieved

Range 3-5 years –

dependent on

project


SE1 6NP of 110

Probability of Success Range 50-95% –

dependent on project

Project NPV = (PV

Benefits – PV Costs) x


£40,000


Expected Benefits

Most of the projects are on target for delivering the expected benefits.

This is despite the poor weather during the winter season introducing

some minor delays. For example, the probabilistic wind and ice maps

project is almost complete and the software interface was

demonstrated, giving confidence that the project outcomes were within

reach.

A notable exception is a project to look at further developing the

CORMON system which has failed due to a lack of desire of the

manufacturer to support the work.

A number of projects are progressing according to plan but it is unclear

at this stage whether the outcomes and benefits will be fully. Notably,

project S2126 (conductor temperatures) is delivering very important

information which is contrary to expectations.

Project Progress to

March 2013

Project S2126 (conductor temperatures) is into Stage 7 and it appears that P27 single-circuit ratings are not over-cautious. This has led to work to update the ENA ACE104 Technical Report on overhead line ratings and is expected to have quite a wide ranging impact. Other outputs from this work have been incorporated into the project “Increased Capacity of Overhead Lines”. Projects looking to support residual strength estimations of wood poles and testing new (cheaper) screw anchors for stays are well under way. Initial results for the pole residual strength testing are inconsistent and additional testing is being carried out. The screw anchor testing has given very concerning results over the strength of the anchors, potentially ruling out their wide scale adoption. Further testing is planned to investigate a wider variety of anchor sizes and to compare against traditional block anchors. Other projects such as development of a pole leakage detector (successfully tested at 11kV), and vibration / ice loading tests on fibre wrapped conductors (test line installed, collecting data) are progressing to plan with nothing significant to report.


Scottish Power Energy Networks, Scottish and Southern Energy, Electricity North West, Western Power Distribution, Northern Power Grid



SE1 6NP of 110

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 5 – Networks for Distributed Energy

Resources


Technology.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £21,623 £13,861 £13,729

Internal £1,042 £668 £662

Total £22,665 £14,530 £14,391





External £322,930

Internal £31,687

Total £354,617

Total Project Costs





External £50,074

Internal £10,000

Total £60,074



Project

The ‘module 5’ programme aims to facilitate access to low carbon

technologies, ranging from on-shore wind generation connected at

33kV, large distributed generators connected at 132kV and electric

vehicles being charged from the Low Voltage (LV) network.

A full list of projects within the programme can be made available on

request.


Involved

Incremental,

Tech Transfer,

Significant,

Radical

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall

Project

Score

13.5 -8.5 22


Project


Investigate distributed generation connection methods avoiding

undue reinforcement

Increased understanding between all member companies on

technical, commercial and regulatory issues and to develop effective

solutions

Developing understanding of the implications of connecting low

carbon technologies to the distribution network in terms of safety,

design, reliability, security and power quality


Adoption

Range 1-3 years

- dependent on

project


achieved

Range 2-5 years –

dependent on

project


SE1 6NP of 110


Range 50-100%

– dependent on

project

Project NPV = (PV Benefits –

PV Costs) x Probability of

Success

£30,000


Expected Benefits

A number of projects are scientific based and will require further

research and development to achieve improvements in operational

performance, and integration into the Network Operators business

environment. Other projects are well developed and provide a clear

view of achievable benefits.

The “Dynamic Ratings” project has developed a simple methodology to

provide enhanced overhead line ratings, and work is in progress to

verify this methodology. This will be followed by a gap analysis to define

a roadmap to adoption, and it is expected that benefits will be delivered

by 2015. Other work is investigating the implementation of dynamic

ratings on primary transformers and other plant.

The fault Level programme of work is also highly likely to deliver

benefits by informing UK Power Networks internal standards around the

management of fault level.

Project Progress to

March 2013

Several projects relating to fault level management have been delivered

this year. They will help to shape our future standards in this area and

ensure a consistent approach amongst all DNO’s. Work included

analysis of the through fault withstand of cables and overhead lines,

and a sensitivity analysis on the effects that network modelling

inaccuracies may have on determining the overall fault performance of

the network.

A project investigating the operation of generation in a voltage control

mode will allow us to connect further generation into areas where

conventional connections are not available due to voltage rise

problems. A solar farm is due to be connected later this year using this

technique which has resulted in a significant reduction in connection

costs when compared to conventional reinforcement. Once proven and

adopted this could create additional capacity for 11kV generation

connections in areas which are already constrained due to existing

generation.

Another project is looking at recommendations for future LV network

design standards to support the connection of new technologies such

as heat pumps and electric vehicle charging points.

Projects looking at network loading including cold load pickup,

standardising definitions of firm capacity, and assessing demand based

on weather conditions will enable a more measured and consistent

approach to Planning Load Estimates and Load indices.


Scottish Power Energy Networks, Scottish and Southern Energy, Electricity North West, Western Power Distribution, Northern Power Grid, NIE and ESB Networks.



SE1 6NP of 110

Transformer Design for FR3 (Completed)


This project is assessing the use of FR3 vegetable oil, manufactured by

Coopers, as an alternative to mineral oil in large power transformers.

FR3 is biodegradable and has a considerably higher flash-point than

mineral oil, however its increased viscosity and oxidisation rate means

that additional design work is needed in the manufacture of the

transformer.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN



Total £0 £0 £0

The costs have been allocated to the EPN licence area where the

transformer is in service.



External £1,211,147

Internal £114,397

Total £1,325,544

Total Project Costs







Project

The demonstration aims to:

Evaluate the use of FR3 as an environmentally-friendly and safer

alternative to mineral-oil insulation of 132kV transformers

Assess the reaction of the plant components to FR3 and the

comparative ageing of transformers with FR3 versus mineral oil



Project Benefits

Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score

11.2 3 8.2


Project

Expected benefits include:

Improved safety for staff and public in the event of failures

Reduced clean-up / disposal costs of insulating oil

Reduced carbon-footprint of operations

Life-extension of transformer insulating paper


Adoption 2014


achieved 20 years


SE1 6NP of 110





Small


Expected Benefits

The project has successfully installed and operated a 90MVA FR3-filled

transformer, alongside an identical mineral-oil filled transformer, for over

48 months with no abnormal operation observed.

The UK Power Networks transformer will remain in operation and further

analysis work will be carried out by a Transformer Research Consortium

led by Manchester University.

FR3 will be considered as an alternative to mineral oil by UK Power

Networks as part of the design of a new underground primary

substations expected to be built in the Hyde Park area during the RIIO

ED1 period.

Project Progress

March 2013

The project is now completed and the following conclusions have been drawn:

FR3 has been shown to have a good potential as design changes

to accommodate the oil are relatively straightforward

Results have so far indicated that the FR3 transformer has similar

performance than the mineral oil transformer on the same site. It

has been confirmed that top oil temperature is approximately 5ºC

higher and core temperature around 10ºC higher in the FR3 filled

transformer under similar load due to the viscosity of the medium

The potential long term performance and life-extension

improvements of FR3 needs further research taking into

consideration operational performance

Further work is required to develop asset management

methodologies alongside traditional oil analysis. For example,

industry agreed ranges of dissolved gases and other FR3

characteristics are needed to provide asset engineers with

confidence in evaluating the condition of FR3-filled units

Investigations into the implications for the supply-chain and safety

case have revealed that there would be limited savings from

handling and containment costs in using FR3 under current

regulations. Benefits would therefore be limited to reduced risk of

fire damage and other consequences of failure for FR3-filled units


R&D Provider Areva, University of Manchester, Coopers Power Systems, and Brush

Transformers


SE1 6NP of 110

Fault Level Management Study


The project will investigate the potential for modern fault level management technologies and designs to improve network fault levels, and the connection potential of embedded generation where its fault level contribution would currently impact on the generation connection prospects.

Expenditure for


External £0 £4,700 £0


Total £0 £4,874 £0

The costs have been allocated to LPN as the project is primary looking

to address fault level issues and scope a demonstration project in this

licence area.



Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)



External £34,499

Internal £2,800

Total £37,299



Project

Smart technologies to release capacity – management of system fault levels and optimal use of fault level headroom



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

16.8 -6 22.8


Project


Full visibility of costs, benefits, and maturities of modern fault level

management solutions

Network specific modelling of performance of potential solutions

Definition of follow-on projects required in order to deliver

successful fault level management techniques and enabling

significant improvements in generation connection potential


Adoption < 5 years


achieved

Lifetime of assets (>20

years) or enabled

connections

Probability of Success 60% - 80%




Success

£ 100,000


SE1 6NP of 110


Expected Benefits

The objective of the study is to produce the knowledge and feasibility

studies required to scope a demonstration project, and to integrate

smart fault level management solutions into UK Power Networks’

practices.

These have the potential to save DG customers the cost of significant

connection-driven network upgrades such as switchgear replacements

driven by fault level.

Project Progress

March 2013

The first report reviewing UK Power Networks modelling and

assessment techniques with respect to system fault level has been

issued. This work has been completed to inform the assessment of fault

level management solutions within the context of UK Power Networks

practices.

A draft second report has been issued. It defines current industry-

leading technologies and management solutions with respect to fault

level, their maturities, and a definition of their development and trial

performances.

The next steps will be to validate the performance and cost of these

solutions, before progressing to selected case study analyses within the

LPN network.


R&D Provider Parsons Brinkerhoff


SE1 6NP of 110

Understand Current and Future Performance of the HV and LV Network


SE1 6NP of 110

Distribution Network Visibility


The project proposes to develop a solution that will allow UK Power

Networks to evaluate the benefits that can be derived from improved

utilisation of existing data sources Remote Terminal Units (RTUs),

better visualisation of this data and enhanced monitoring of the

distribution network where RTU installation is not plausible, using optical

current sensors.

The project is co-funded with the Low Carbon Networks fund. Benefits

from the project will include supporting Low Carbon Technology uptake,

as well as managing existing network loads and equipment.

The demonstration will be carried out in the LPN area as the population

of RTUs is much greater than in the EPN and SPN areas.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £0 £138,643 £0

Internal £0 £5,143 £0

Total £0 £143,786 £0

The costs have been allocated to LPN as the trial is being carried out in

this licence area.



External £61,366

Internal £5,550

Total £66,916

Total Project Costs



£3,085,000

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £440,068

Internal £26,500

Total £466,568



Project

To develop an innovative monitoring solution:

Increase data collection, upgrade operational data store (data

warehouse – PI), develop visualisations, and improve interaction

between business systems.

Demonstrate the benefits of an improved visibility of power flows:

Maximise utilisation of the distribution network

Accommodate higher levels of distributed generation

Better understand network behaviour: load profiles, power factor and

imbalances

Ability to automatically detect asset defect (e.g. tap changers)

Evaluate a range of non-invasive optical fibre based sensors:

Main features: directional power flows, current, voltage, fault current

measurement

Application: Sites with no RTU (LPN, EPN and SPN areas),

monitoring of complex networks


Involved

Incremental,

Significant

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score


SE1 6NP of 110

14.6 -2 16.6


Project


Improved switching and load transfers using historical load and

voltage trends

Assist in network reinforcement schemes and particularly with new

customer load connections by providing an overview to planning

engineers in respect of load demands and profiles

Easier planning processes to determine options for load growth and

new load e.g. transfer or upgrade circuits

Improved management of secondary substation ventilation

Validation of existing tap changer maintenance policy leading to

better more cost effective maintenance

Enable a higher penetration of renewable generation

Visualisation of the load on the system, which should lead to

improvements in the rebalancing of circuits following a system

disturbance such as a fault


Adoption 2013

Duration of benefit






Success

£831,000


Expected Benefits

The project is currently progressing as planned and a first version of the

distribution network visibility tool has been released to business users.

The project is now entering its final phase and will concentrate on the

demonstration of business benefits and the value of combining data

from various sources and business systems.


SE1 6NP of 110

Project Progress

March 2013

Visualisation tool development

A web-based visualisation application has been developed to allow the

display of network monitoring data stored in the PI data historian. The

DNV application has been rolled out to various business users to get

feedback, identify improvements and demonstrate the business

benefits. New servers have been installed at a UK Power Networks data

centre enabling the application to be hosted internally.

Upgrade of RTUs

In line with the plan, 510 RTUs were manually upgraded to collect 10

additional half hourly analogues (including voltage and current on all

three low voltage phases). Remsdaq, the manufacturer of the RTUs,

has developed software to allow the automated upgrade of the

remaining 9,000 secondary RTUs in the LPN network. Testing of the

software has commenced.

GE Distribution Power Flow (DPf) software package trial

A trial of the GE Energy’s DPf software was undertaken on a feeder

group fed from an LPN Primary Substation, utilising monitoring data

from secondary RTUs and PowerSense monitoring devices installed to

HV cables.

The software was successfully demonstrated to control engineers and

an extended trial on the LPN LV interconnected network is now being

planned.

Further Roll Out of PowerSense Advanced Monitoring Units

Following the deployment of PowerSense devices to 5 sites in LPN and

SPN, further deployments of HV and LV advanced monitoring devices

were carried out at an additional 10 sites in LPN. This will help

demonstrate the benefits of the technology for different applications.

Collaborative Partners PPA Energy and Capula Ltd.

R&D Providers Remsdaq Ltd, GE Energy, PowerSense A/S


SE1 6NP of 110

LV Remote Control and Automation / Smart Urban LV Network


This project aims to provide a complete solution to monitor and

automate the low voltage network. Retrofit-able load break/fault make

switches for underground link boxes will be developed, as well as fault

break/fault make circuit-breakers (CB) for low voltage panels in

substations.

The scope of the LV Remote Control & Automation IFI project which

developed prototype devices has been significantly extended to cover

the development aspects of the Smart Urban Low Voltage Network

LCNF Tier 1 project (both projects will be run in parallel), and will also

part fund the deployment which will investigate potential quality of

supply benefits. Once both projects are completed, approximately 50%

of the technology development cost would have been funded by UK

Power Networks.

Expenditure for Financial

Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £402,205 £229,172 £262,706

Internal £28,071 £15,994 £18,335

Total £430,276 £245,166 £281,041

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the length of installed LV

cables in each licence area.



External £375,057

Internal £39,566

Total £414,623

Total Project Costs



£4,300,000

Projected 2013/14

Costs for UK Power

Networks

External £891,000

Internal £45,000

Total £936,000

Technological Area

and/or Issue Addressed

by Project

Management of the low voltage network



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall

Project Score

16.2 -2 18.2


Project

The main benefits expected are as follows:

Improved safety for public and utility engineers by using arc-free

switching technology and novel fault-make switching capability

Remote and rapid restoration of supplies

Reduction of customer minutes lost (CML) and customer

interruptions (CI)


SE1 6NP of 110

Better understanding of power flows, network load monitoring


Adoption

2015 / 2013 for CB

only solution

Duration of Benefit

Once Achieved 10 years




Costs) X Probability of

Success

£3,100,000


Expected Benefits

The trial equipment has been installed for approximately 12 months and

has operated as expected.

During this time:

Initial GPRS communication issues were overcome, enabling three

months’ worth of half hourly load monitoring data from each device

on the trial circuits to be collected

LV Control Engineers have gained confidence in using the system

and have reacted to fault passage indications (FPIs) from the circuit

breakers and switches. A section of cable with a suspected transient

fault has been successfully identified

The network has been remotely reconfigured by LV Control

Engineers, providing an interconnection between the trial

substations and a back-feed to facilitate the removal and

replacement of CBs (for maintenance purposes), without the need

for manual reconfiguration of the network

A remote reconfiguration of the network to move the normally open

point from one link box to another and transfer load has been

successfully demonstrated

The progress made in the trial area, and initial demonstration of some of

the expected benefits (incipient fault detection and remote network

reconfiguration) provides confidence that the expected benefits will be

realised.

Project Progress

March 2013

The field trial, consisting of a fully functional system which provides

remote control of circuit breakers at two distribution substations and

switches in one link box, has been extended to include an additional two

link boxes. This gives LV Control Engineers remote switching capability

in all link boxes supplied from the LV circuit between the trial sites.

Incipient Fault Detection

FPIs have been triggered from a transient fault on a circuit fed from one

of the trial link boxes. The LV control centre was automatically alerted as

the system was detecting short duration current peaks (approaching

2000A) on one of the phases. These current peaks have not been of

long enough duration to trip the CB or operate a fuse.


SE1 6NP of 110

Figure 16: LV control system FPI indication

The FPI readings (Figure 16) have enabled UK Power Networks

engineers to locate the fault within a short section of cable, and the FPI

readings have been validated by a fault disturbance recorder (see

Figure 17). Work is currently underway to pin-point the exact location of

the fault, and repair it before a supply interruption occurs.

Figure 17: Disturbance recorder verifying FPI indication

Load Monitoring & Network Reconfiguration (also see Highlight section at the start of this report)

Half hourly load monitoring data has been collected and archived,

enabling load profiles to be produced from any of the 39 individual

switches and CBs installed. This has provided a clear picture of how the

trial network is loaded.

By remotely moving a normally open point between the two trial

substations, LV Control Engineers have been able to demonstrate load

transfer from one substation to another.

Industrialised Production Hardware

Development of the production hardware is in the final stages, and

validation testing is underway with promising early results.

Design changes based on feedback from UK Power Networks engineers

have been carried out. The production hardware will be easier to install

and operate than the beta hardware currently in use. Figure 18 below

shows the redesigned, link box control panel, link box switch and circuit

19:32:01.18227/04/13

19:32:01.31327/04/13

1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29Time 131 millisecs (ss)

-600

-400

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

AC

Cur

rent

(Aac

)

Maximum Minimum AverageInput Ia (I1) (Transient) 285 -282 -8Input Ib (I2) (Transient) 258 -265 -1Input Ic (I3) (Transient) 1300 -515 8Input In (I4) (Transient) 1100 -634 -2


SE1 6NP of 110

breaker respectively.

Figure 18: Redesigned hardware

SCADA System Development

UK Power Networks engineers have been working closely with GE

Energy to define the requirements for a new interactive LV control

SCADA system. This will be implemented in a standalone system of

GE’s PowerOn Fusion.

Development of new symbols and interactive LV diagram is progressing

according to plan. Activities to integrate the SCADA system with the LV

devices via the DNP3 protocol have so far proved successful.

The project is on track to deliver an integrated and scalable LV remote

control and Automation system.

Collaborative Partner TE Connectivity (formerly Tyco)

R&D Provider TE Connectivity (formerly Tyco)


SE1 6NP of 110

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 3 – Cable networks


Technology.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £32,774 £21,010 £20,810

Internal £1,580 £1,013 £1,003

Total £34,354 £22,023 £21,813





External £344,561

Internal £34,323

Total £378,884

Total Project Costs



£542,974 Projected 2013/14 costs for

UK Power Networks

External £75,900

Internal £10,000

Total £85,900



Project

The Module 3 programme is investigating a number of issues with

individual cable construction components, such as ducts, sealants, and

materials to backfill cable trenches, as well as methods to verify the

integrity and condition of cable circuits.


request.


Involved

Incremental,

Tech Transfer,

Significant,

Radical

Project Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

14 -8 22


Project


A clearer indication of cable condition

Potential reduction in the number of cable faults

Alternatives to current design and installation practices which offer

benefits in lower lifetime cost and higher performance (e.g.

increased ratings)

Reduced design costs


Adoption

Range 1-2 years –


Duration of benefit

once achieved

Range 3-5 years –

dependent on

project



Project NPV = (PV

Benefits – PV Costs) x


£40,000


SE1 6NP of 110


Expected Benefits

All the projects being carried out as part of STP module 3 are

progressing according to plan.

A number of projects involve new technical development such as

trialling techniques for assessing the condition of cables, and will

therefore take some time to come to fruition. Other projects are

investigating better ways of improving the operational performance,

management and reliability of cable networks in terms of minimising the

impact on the environment, and improving the safety of both operators

and the public, in a manner that could be implemented through changes

to engineering policy.

STP 3 has also delivered a number of notable innovations since its

inception, such as the CRATER Cable Ratings calculation software and

the Fluid Filled Cable Design Tools, which both provide a more efficient

and cost effective solution for the design and operation of underground

cable circuits.

Project Progress to

March 2013

A particular highlight this year has been two different studies carried out

into the methods for the offline testing of underground cable circuits,

using different types of test philosophy.

The outputs have been two objective reports which indicate the best

methods which should be used to determine cable condition, both in

service and in the factory prior to delivery. These projects will prompt

further work, but they have provided UK Power Networks with valuable

information on how to specify the test methods required for new cables

to be purchased, and what tests can be done to help determine the

condition and future useful life of existing underground cables.


Scottish Power Energy Networks, Scottish and Southern Energy, Electricity North West, Western Power Distribution and Northern Power Grid



SE1 6NP of 110

Strategic Technology Programme (STP) Module 4 – Substations


Technology.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £23,620 £15,142 £14,997

Internal £1,138 £730 £723

Total £24,758 £15,871 £15,720





External £309,719

Internal £31,027

Total £340,746

Total Project Costs




Power Networks

External £54,699

Internal £10,000

Total £64,699



Project

The module 4 programme looks widely across substation plant including

transformers, switchgear and protection equipment. It looks at issues

related to maintaining existing assets, including alternative insulating

oils and means to assess the condition of equipment, as well as looking

at new plant options.


request.


Involved

Incremental,

Tech

Transfer,

Significant,

Radical

Project Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

16.5 -9.5 26.0


Project


Optimising safety and environmental requirements for management

of insulating oils and SF6

Technical liaison with international utilities to share new technology

and failure modes

Development of condition-based assessments, or tests, to

determine asset condition

Extended serviceable life of switchgear and transformers


Adoption

Range 1-4 years –


Duration of benefit

once achieved

Range 1-6 years –

dependent on

project


SE1 6NP of 110



Project NPV = (PV

Benefits – PV Costs)

x Probability of

Success

£30,000


Expected Benefits

A majority of projects being carried out as part of STP module 4 are

progressing according to plan.

A number of projects have successfully carried out condition analysis on

plant removed from service at end of life. By examining this equipment

in detail, it can be confirmed whether the decisions made to remove it

were correct and, where appropriate, alter policies to extend the life of

similar equipment still in service.

Other projects have been investigating improvement opportunities

surrounding: working methods, the performance and reliability of

substation plant, and plant maintenance regimes, in a manner that

could be implemented through changes to engineering policy.

Project Progress to

March 2013

A highlight within this year’s programme has been the technical

evaluation of AC90 lubricant used by UK Power Networks for circuit

breaker mechanism lubrication.

This will enable circuit breaker maintenance techniques to be modified

to improve reliability of operation, and minimise disruption to customer

supplies caused by failure to trip.


Scottish Power Energy Networks; Scottish and Southern Energy; Electricity North West; Western Power Distribution; Northern Power Grid and ESB Networks



SE1 6NP of 110

High Performance Computing Technologies for Smart Distributed Network Operation (HiPerDNO) (Completed)


The mass deployment of network equipment sensors and

instrumentation, millions of smart meters, small-scale embedded

generation, and responsive load will generate vast amounts of data.

Whilst UK Power Networks has not decided to subscribe to all the data

available from smart meters, it is a worthy research question to

understand whether large quantities of data could be analysed to

identify trends and incipient faults.

So-called cloud and grid computing could enable scalable data mining,

feature extraction, and near to real-time state estimation. These and

other High Performance Computing (HPC) tools and techniques have

been recently developed to cost-effectively solve large scale

computational challenges in areas such as genomics, biomedicine,

particle physics and other major scientific and engineering fields that

require similarly scalable communications, computation and data

analysis.

HiPerDNO is a European Commission funded FP7 ICT Energy STREP

(Specific Targeted Research Projects) project which plans to develop

solutions to address future electricity distribution networks.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £-1,264 £-810 £-802

Internal £1,390 £891 £883

Total £127 £81 £80





External £339

Internal £10,451

Total £10,790

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External + UK Power

Networks)





Project

Development and testing of novel high performance computing

information and communications technology for active distribution

networks

Development and testing of data mining features that extract

relevant information

Development and testing of a high-speed messaging layer

Calculation and utilisation of a typical measurement data set for

large amounts of smart meter data in future low and medium

voltage networks


SE1 6NP of 110

Customer integration in active network operation

Development and testing of a real-time distribution state estimator

Identification and analysis of new generation DMS functionalities

Development and testing of a new generation network service

restoration algorithm

Development of novel state estimation algorithms for distribution

networks



Project Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

8.6 -1 9.6


Project

This research project will develop a new generation of distribution

network management systems that will exploit novel near to real-time

HPC solutions. The solutions are expected to have inherent security

and intelligent communications for smart distribution network operation

and management. Cost effective scalable HPC solutions will be

developed and initially demonstrated for realistic distribution network

data traffic and management scenarios. The demonstrations will be via

off-line field trials involving several distribution network owners and

operators.


Adoption Year 2020


achieved 10 Years





Success

This project is expected to

deliver benefits in the order

of millions of pounds. As

part of the project the real

value will be calculated.


Expected Benefits

The project has successfully completed its final external review in

March 2013, and received a positive review of the work carried out

during the project.

The project has achieved its objectives and technical goals with

relatively minor deviations.

Project Progress

March 2013

The outcome of the final external review confirmed that good results

were achieved. All the deliverables have been accepted by the

reviewers and the EC (European Commission) project officers. The

deliverables will be available via the project website (www.hiperdno.eu).

The HiPerDNO project has successfully achieved the design, build, and

demonstration of a cost-effective, scalable and secure high

performance computing platform, high-speed messaging system, data

mining methods and new algorithms for network state estimation,

voltage control, and service restoration for distribution networks.

Field trials were conducted by participating DNOs from Spain, Slovenia,

and the UK. The benefits of integrating the high performance computing

platform, high speed messaging layer, data mining methods, and new

http://www.hiperdno.eu/


SE1 6NP of 110

algorithms were successfully demonstrated.

One work package was led by UK Power Networks and looked at the

potential benefits of enhanced ICT and SCADA

monitoring arrangements in relation to condition monitoring of network

assets. Brunel University provided the academic and research

expertise, and UK Power Networks provided condition monitoring data.

The advanced data mining and clustering algorithms that Brunel

University developed as a result of their work, demonstrated that this

approach to data analysis was highly scalable.

Technical reports have been produced for each of the demonstrations.

Collaborative Partner HiPerDNO is an Integrated Project and is supported by the European

Commission under the 7th framework programme. www.hiperdno.eu

R&D Providers

Brunel University

Electricité de France

Elektro Gorenjska (Slovenia)

Fraunhofer- IWES

GTD Spain

IBM Haifa

Indra

Korona

Union Fenosa Group

University of Oxford

http://www.hiperdno.eu/


SE1 6NP of 110

Understand the Condition of Our Assets


SE1 6NP of 110

Sustainable Asset Risk and Prioritisation Modelling


UK Power Networks’ asset engineers have been working closely with

EA Technology to further develop its ‘Condition Based Risk

Management’ (CBRM) tool into a more holistic ‘Asset Risk and

Prioritisation’ (ARP) model.

The model provides a step forward with respect to the existing CBRM

functionality by providing the capability to trade-off the financial and

technical consequences of future decisions to replace assets, refurbish

assets or introduce an enhanced maintenance regime. The tool has

also been developed in a way which foresees that it may in future

recognise plant loading as well as condition in the optimisation process.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £31,845 £17,560 £20,196

Internal £47,499 £26,191 £30,125

Total £79,344 £43,751 £50,321





External £718,000

Internal £64,935

Total £782,935

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External + UK Power

Networks)

£ 1,243,071 Projected 2013/14 costs for

UK Power Networks

External £250,000

Internal £20,000

Total £270,000



Project

Modelling the future condition of assets and

replace/refurbish/maintain decisions on individual components

Inconsistency in asset modelling and information gathering

Preparation for an optimisation which might include plant loading as

a parameter



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

20 1 19


Project



Enhanced trending capability

Improved confidence of long term degradation and early warning of

developing faults

Integration of risk based approach to asset management


Adoption 2014


achieved 10 years


SE1 6NP of 110


Project NPV (Present Benefits

– Present Costs) x Probability

of Success

£4,500,000


Expected Benefits

The data warehouse (which is critical to the success of the project) has become an integral link between several business systems and ARP. More work is on-going to capture additional data (SAP, PowerOn) and improve the accuracy of the ARP models. Data quality will also be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that the models are accurate.

Project Progress

March 2013

ARP currently represents eight of the major asset groups in our EPN

licence area, eight in our SPN licence area and six in our LPN licence

area.

Below is a summary of the main developments carried out over the past

12 months:

Each model has now been further developed to cover Health,

Criticality and Net Present Value (NPV) analysis

Plant loading has now been included across a number of asset

classes (132/EHV transformers, pressurised cables, EHV

switchgear and OHL conductors)

Using the data warehouse ARP has become linked to the asset

register database and utilises other business systems (fault and

other databases)

Each model has been expanded to fully incorporate the criticality

proposals set by Ofgem in February 2013

SF6 condition monitoring is now an integral condition measure

within ARP defining intervention strategies based upon the

incoming live data

The wood pole models were expanded to incorporate different

ground conditions, leading to a better life expectancy calculation

The next stage in development is to include load and smart intervention

strategies, and to further refine each model’s outputs.




SE1 6NP of 110

Helicopter Mounted Partial Discharge Locator


This project aims to mount a radiometric partial discharge (PD) locator

to a helicopter and automate the analysis of data to allow fast screening

of potential PD defects during normal overhead line patrol flights.


Year

EPN LPN SPN


Internal £340 £118 £270

Total £340 £118 £270

The costs have been allocated in proportion to the number of primary




External £58,437

Internal £5,417

Total £63,854

Total Project Costs




Power Networks

UK Power Networks

is currently

considering whether

to proceed with the

redesign of the

equipment

Technological Area and /

or Issue Addressed by

Project

Improved management of assets: detection of overhead line and

substation equipment defects.



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

12 -9 21


Project


Avoidance of major disruptive incidents

Ability to carry out surveys on sites before major work (switchboard

replacement, major refurbishment, etc.) commences, hence

reducing risk

Overhead line and substation condition assessment

Improved productivity by obviating the requirement to fund separate

flights, as the technology will be used during scheduled patrol flights


Adoption 2013


achieved 10 Years


Project NPV (Present Benefits –

Present Costs) x Probability of

Success

£470,000


SE1 6NP of 110


Expected Benefits

A trial flight in the WPD license area has indicated that the PD locator is able to determine the presence and magnitude of PD on overhead lines and substations. These initial positive results need be validated by further flights and a comparison of the results with ground based PD surveys. A recent change of aircraft used by WPD will require a redesign and retesting of the PD locator mounting equipment. The project partners are currently discussing whether to proceed with the redesign.

Project Progress

March 2013

Following the completion of the trial flight, an assessment of the

software has also been completed.

The software has been shown to detail the location and magnitude of

PD, as well as the speed and flight path of the helicopter, over a number

of substations and overhead lines. Figure 19 below details multiple

flights over a substation, and the PD measurements recorded (location

and direction). Figure 20 shows a single fly over which detailed no PD

measurements.

Figure 19: Flight path and PD measurements over a substation site

Figure 20: Flight path showing no PD recorded over another substation

Collaborative Partners Western Power Distribution and Scottish and Southern Energy

R&D Provider Elimpus


SE1 6NP of 110

Develop Commercial Solutions and Products


SE1 6NP of 110

Smart Power Distribution


This project, which is partly funded by the Technology Strategy Board

(TSB), builds on learning obtained in the LCNF Tier 2 funded “Low

Carbon London” project in which Active Network Management and

Demand Response activities are being assessed to understand their

suitability as well as the opportunity available for DNOs.

The learning obtained within the Low Carbon London project has

indicated that the existing commercial opportunities for Combined Heat

and Power (CHP) systems, particularly small scale units, limits their

ability to provide ancillary services.

The project description as stated in the abstract from the TSB

submission is as follows: “This Active Virtual Power Plant Combined

Heat and Power proposal will combine commercial aggregation and

active network management, link demand and supply utilizing clusters

of small CHP generators, and integrate both heat and electricity into a

multi-mode energy Virtual Power Plant that will provide the potential for

greater provision of low carbon energy with limited capital investment”.

Expenditure for


External £0 -£12,238 £0

Internal £0 £24,956 £0

Total £0 £12,717 £0

The costs have been allocated to LPN as the project is being carried

out in this licence area.

50% of the UK Power Networks cost is funded by the TSB.



Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External + UK Power

Networks)

£ 166,736

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £0

Internal £13,041

Total £13,041



Project

This project will investigate technical developments required to enable the control functionality needed for CHP systems to participate in VPP activities.

The project will examine the potential realisation of benefits from the many distributed energy resources embedded within the distribution network. These could include network voltage regulation, peak lopping, and load index improvements.



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project

Residual Risk

Overall Project

Score

9.6 -4 13


SE1 6NP of 110


Project

Improved understanding of the technical and commercial requirements

for operating multiple CHP sites as a coordinated ‘virtual power plant’


Adoption < 10 years

Duration of benefit


Probability of Success 20% - 40%




Success

£284,000


Expected Benefits

Future realisation of the benefits of DNO utilisation of a VPP will depend

upon customers’ widespread use of CHP and control systems that are

fit for this purpose, as well as customer commercial willingness to

deliver sufficient recruitment and participation. These realisations will

become more likely over the second half of the RIIO-ED1 period.

Project Progress

March 2013

The project has developed and issued a report on the Demand Response Requirements of the DNO, completing the first project deliverable. A modelling strategy has been proposed by UK Power Networks and accepted across the project for use in the delivery of the remaining project benefits, using network models to identify specific case study demand response requirements. Finally, the CHP sites making up these case studies have been selected and work has commenced on the final UK Power Networks project deliverable.


Advanced Digital Innovation Limited, Flexitricity Limited, Smarter Grid

Solutions Limited, Ener-G Combined Power Limited

R&D Provider N/A


SE1 6NP of 110

Collaborative Programmes


SE1 6NP of 110

Energy Innovation Centre


UK Power Networks has joined the Energy Innovation Centre

(http://www.energyinnovationcentre.com/) and has started the following

collaborative projects:

Cable paper moisture meter (1) The project proposes to develop a paper moisture analyser, an instrument that will be used by cable jointers to test the moisture level in paper insulated cables. The problem was first identified under STP3 which sponsored some practical work by EATL to investigate a number of different ways of paper moisture measurement. The work showed that both infrared and capacitive methods of measurement had some merit but the results were not conclusive as the testing was conducted with off the shelf hardware that was not physically suited or calibrated to this particular application. EATL has subsequently conducted further test work exploring the use of multi-frequency measurement as a technique as opposed to the single frequency work previously carried out. Results from this test work were positive. The instrument will allow this operation to be performed more safely than the currently used oil or paraffin solutions. The instrument will produce quantifiable results with a higher level of confidence and will require a shorter time to perform each measurement.

Oilcable-Care (2)

The project seeks to identify, develop and assess self-repairing systems

for oil and fluid filled cable sheaths such that damages will self-heal.

This will avoid oil leakage, the resulting environmental clean-up, as well

as prevent contamination of the cable that could compromise its

performance and lead to premature failure.

Several additional opportunities are currently being considered.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £36,204 £23,209 £22,987

Internal £1,343 £861 £853

Total £37,547 £24,070 £23,840



The expenditure reported this year only includes the Energy Innovation

Centre annual subscription fee. Project cost will be reported next year

once projects are underway.




SE1 6NP of 110

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External + UK Power

Networks)

£ 614,807

Projected 2013/14

costs for UK Power

Networks

External £250,000

Internal £15,000

Total £265,000



Project

Cable paper moisture meter

Safety of staff

Cable jointing

Underground cable faults

Oilcable-Care

Fluid Filled cable leaks

Environmental impact



Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

(1) 15.4 (2) 8.6

(1) -2

(2) 3

(1) 17.4

(2) 5.6


Project


Successful completion of the project will result in:

Improved reliability of cable jointing reducing fault re-occurrence

Safer method of assessing the moisture level in cables

Reduced environmental impact through reduced excavation as a

result of fault re-occurrence

Reduced CI and CMLs from more reliable repairs

Oilcable-Care

Indicative data shows that the current cost of this problem is of the

order of several million pounds per annum across the UK. Financial

savings would be achieved from the reduced need to repair cables. The

project is also expected to result in:

Improved reliability of cables

Reduced environmental impact through a reduction in the amount

of oil leaking from cables

Reduced CI and CMLs as a result of more reliable cables


Adoption

(1) 2015

(2) 2017/18 Duration of benefit

once achieved

(1) 10 Years

(2) 25 Years


(1) 20 - 40%

(2) 40 - 60%

Project NPV

(Present Benefits –

Present Costs) x

Probability of

Success

(1) £505,000

(2) £133,062


SE1 6NP of 110


Expected Benefits


Although multi frequency measurement has not previously been applied

to this measurement application, there is academic literature which

supports the view that the technology could be successful in this

application.

Additionally, preliminary evaluation work gave some encouraging

results. One of the unknowns is whether it can be successful with the

variety of cables of different ages and from different manufacturers. A

further unknown is the complexity of the final instrument and whether it

can be simple enough to require only minimal training to use, and at a

cost that is acceptable to the DNOs.

Oilcable-Care

EDF R&D has done some previous research work in this area and has

patented an oil additive with self-healing properties. This improves the

potential for achieving the expected benefits.

Project Progress

March 2013


The project is expected to start in 2013/14.

Oilcable-Care

The project is expected to start in 2013/14.


Cable paper moisture meter: Electricity Northwest, Scottish Power

Energy Networks

Oilcable-Care: Northern Power Grid and Electricity Northwest

R&D Provider

Cable paper moisture meter: EA Technology Ltd

Oilcable-Care: Gnosys / EDF R&D


SE1 6NP of 110

Power Networks Research Academy


The Power Networks Research Academy (PNRA) has been established

through a strategic partnership agreement between the Engineering and

Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), electricity transmission

and distribution companies, and related manufacturers and consultants.

The Academy funds and supports PhD researchers in power industry

related projects and helps maintain and improve the research and

teaching capacity in power engineering subjects.

Expenditure for

Financial Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £17,034 £10,919 £10,815

Internal £632 £405 £401

Total £17,665 £11,324 £11,216





External £197,638

Internal £27,027

Total £224,665

Total Project Costs

(Collaborative +

External +

UK Power Networks)


UK Power Networks

External £21,524

Internal £3,000

Total £24,524



Project

The projects of most interest to UK Power Networks are:

Overhead lines measurement system

Application of artificial immune system algorithm to distribution

networks

Reactive power dispatch using distributed generation

Alternatives to Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) as an insulation medium

for distribution equipment

Further projects related to the distribution and transmission networks

are also being carried out.


Involved

Significant,

Technological

substitution and

Radical

innovations

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

9.4 0.0 9.4


Project

Industry, IET and academia have agreed that the projects are beneficial

to both the DNOs (through potential breakthroughs that could lead to

new practices or products) and to academia by raising the profile of

power engineering.


SE1 6NP of 110


Adoption

Year 2013

onwards


achieved 20 Years





£200,000


Expected Benefits

Most of the projects are progressing according to plan and are expected

to deliver the expected benefits. Some of the highlights are presented

below:

Overhead lines measurement system

Two laboratory prototypes have been successfully developed.


networks

The benefits have been proven using generic distribution network

models to detect both voltage weak buses, voltage sags and unbalance.

This research is being continued by another researcher within the

Power Quality and Dynamics group (under Prof. Milanovic’s

supervision) at the University of Manchester. All issues have been

written up and documented as part of the PhD thesis associated with

this project.


Present progress continues to indicate that both power system losses

and voltage profiles can be enhanced with the involvement of DG, as

performed on the IEEE 30 bus system. As such, it is believed that the

expected benefits of the project can be realised.

Alternatives to SF6 as an insulation medium for distribution

equipment

It is still expected that the benefits of this project will be accomplished

as the work continues to progress well. This is backed by the interest

shown by switchgear manufacturers, Schneider Electric, and the

progress that has been made producing a suitable test rig to test the

characteristics of Trifluoroiodomethane (CF3I) alongside the facilities

available at Cardiff University.

Project Progress

March 2013

Only relevant progress for projects of most interest to UK Power

Networks is presented below.

Overhead lines measurement system (completed)

The prototype system was further developed to the point where two

prototypes have been tested and verified in laboratory conditions. The

project is being continued at Cardiff University and field trials are

planned to fully assess the potential of the technology.


networks (completed)

Work on collating all the developed techniques into an overall system

state estimator capable of identifying the worst served and weakest

areas of the network (in terms of Power Quality) has been completed.


SE1 6NP of 110

This research has been written up as a thesis, which has been

examined and passed at the University of Manchester.


A balanced voltage control algorithm has been developed. The algorithm has three significant control actions. Firstly, available reactive power reserves are utilised. Then, if required, DG active power output is curtailed. Finally, curtailment of non-critical site demand is considered. A merit order of selecting DG units to participate in reactive power support is based on the sensitivity of the network to reactive power injection or absorption at the DG unit’s point of connection. In practice the merit order is also envisaged to acknowledge the speed of response of units in the dispatch process. The control algorithm has been modified to control voltages on unbalanced distribution networks, to work with the presence of existing network reactive power support, and for a range of DG units.

Final testing of the control technique is to be carried out on a model of

the Westray network (Orkney Islands, Scotland).

Alternatives to SF6 as an insulation medium for distribution

equipment

The construction of a test rig that utilises switch disconnectors provided

by Schneider Electric has now been completed at Cardiff University.

Fundamental laboratory experiments are being developed to gas, de-

gas and filter the equipment with CF3I and CF3I-CO2 gas mixtures.


EPSRC, The IET and the following industrial partners:

Western Power Distribution, EA Technology Ltd, National Grid and

Scottish and Southern Energy

R&D Providers Universities of Cardiff, Manchester; Queens (Belfast), Southampton,

Strathclyde, and Imperial College London


SE1 6NP of 110

Collaborative ENA R&D Programme


The Energy Networks Association (ENA) represents all the UK network

operators. Several projects have been initiated by the ENA R&D

working group and have been funded through the IFI.


Year

EPN LPN SPN

External £19,731 £12,648 £12,528

Internal £732 £469 £465

Total £20,463 £13,118 £12,992


customers connected in each licence area.



External £606,285

Internal £82,226

Total £688,511

Total Project Costs


+

UK Power Networks)

£845,104

Projected 2013/14

Costs for UK Power

Networks

External £100,000

Internal £10,000

Total £110,000

Technological Area

and/or Issue Addressed

by Project

The projects listed below address issues which have been identified by

the ENA working groups as significant – requiring technical

investigation and development.

Harmonic Impedance Modelling

The project addresses the detailed modelling of cable and overhead

line components, to develop cable models appropriate for distribution

networks.

Earthing Project – HV/LV Earthing Transfer

The aim is to develop new techniques to assess the impact of lower

voltage earth electrodes on higher voltage ‘hot zones’ and to measure

the resistance of distribution substation earth systems.

Smart Grid Forum Workstream 3 Phase 1 & 2

The project takes the impact of Britain’s future energy scenarios into

key strategic directions for network development, identifying the needs

for network expansion and the opportunities for smart grid techniques

to drive cost-efficiency and deliver new services. It considers the

enablers for change, including the necessary development of

commercial and regulatory frameworks.

DC Injection

Investigation into the corrosion effects of DC on DNO networks with

specific emphasis on assessing the impact of DC flows in the neutral

conductors.


SE1 6NP of 110


Involved

Incremental

Innovation

Project

Benefits

Rating

Project Residual

Risk

Overall Project

Score

6.2 -10 16.2


Project

These projects have the potential to provide a wide range of benefits. In

some cases, they will help to understand key asset-related issues and

allow designs to be altered to address them. In other cases they will

allow us to better understand risks to our network, whether from climate

change or changes in demand.


Adoption Year 2012

Duration of Benefit

Once Achieved 10 – 20 Years





Success

£100,000


Expected Benefits

Work on the harmonic impedance modelling (G5/4) will help DNOs

understand harmonics issues on distributed networks and produce a

revised revision of G5/4. The transfer potential projects will assist with

understanding earthing issues in differing situations.

The remaining projects are still in progress and it is expected that they

will demonstrate the benefits described.

Project Progress

March 2013

Harmonic Impedance Modelling

A final report has been produced and is currently under review. The outputs will be disseminated once it has been approved.

Earthing Project – HV/LV Earthing Transfer

A MS Excel based calculation tool has been developed for analysing the earth fault current distribution for the full range of representative 11kV cables.

An extension to the project to include voltages from 33kV up to 400kV

has been proposed. This new proposal is to add a representative

sample of DNO 33kV, 66kV and 132kV cables into the routines. The

33kV and 66kV circuits and cables have many similarities to those

previously modelled and can be added using the methods already

developed. The 132kV circuits are more complex in terms of cable

construction, circuit configuration, end resistance value (low) and circuit

length (quite long).

Smart Grid Forum Workstream 3 Phase 1, 2 & 3

Phase 2 has developed a technical model and cost benefit analysis

network investment tool for a range of typical network types from EHV

to LV. The model can be run against synthetic networks at each voltage

level under a range of low carbon uptake scenarios. As of March 2013

phase 2 is completed and can now be used for ED1 Business Plans. Work is currently commencing on WS3 Phase 3.


SE1 6NP of 110

DC Injection The objectives have been defined and the project is currently progressing through its early stages.


National Grid; Scottish Power Energy Networks; Scottish and Southern

Energy; Electricity North West; Western Power Distribution and

Northern Power Grid

R&D Providers TNEI, EA Technology Ltd (and partners), Earthing Solutions, Intertek

and CAPCIS

ifi / lcnf report - uk power networks

Documents