SIF R2 Beta - Powering Wales Renewably

Collaboratively, they identified the priorities required to support the delivery of the Welsh Government's decarbonisation plans, prepare for a net zero power system and deliver net benefits to Wales's citizens and communities. 

Through delivery of a digital twin of the whole Welsh energy transmission and distribution systems, PWR will provide a digital common interface to accelerate the integration of renewable generation, by enhancing locational visibility of system challenges and whole energy system status.

Innovation Justification

Preceding Project Learnings 

PWR leverages investments in the NGED and SPEN integrated distribution network models, projects FALCON, WPD CIM, DINO, TRANSITION and TraDER, and the NESO Virtual Energy System. Learnings and findings from previous projects taken forward for Beta adoption include, intelligent network models, the need for multi-energy vector, constraint off-setting, mid-Wales SPEN/NGED interconnection, and tertiary SGT connections. PWR will stimulate digital innovation and create additional value by linking and collaborating with other digital twins. 

Open and Transparent Working 

PWR goes beyond incremental innovation. Holistic by design, the project engaged with the full stakeholder chain to identify whole system blockers to successful energy system transition. Through working openly with stakeholders, their perspectives and critical challenge has enabled us to refine the project to be ambitious, beyond incremental, and require multiple stakeholder collaboration. The line of sight as to how the resultant use cases deliver the required benefits is in the appendix to this answer.  

Based on insights and consensus achieved, the Beta Phase will deliver a novel ICT asset that uniquely integrates, for the first time, datasets, and digital technologies to create a digital twin of the T&D energy networks across Wales. 

Innovation and Scale 

PWR is ambitious and innovative. The innovative aspects of our project are, national Welsh scale, multi-energy vector, full value chain engagement, and an intelligent energy networks digital twin, all of which define a transformative delivery approach. Critically, project innovation scope is firmly focused on delivering whole system, benefit driven, novel solutions to three core blockers to Welsh energy system transition, namely: 

1. The first Welsh whole energy system intelligent network status model, correlated to multiple industry and external datasets. 
2. The first whole-system, near-real-time representation of, flexibility requirements, DER site availability and dispatch. 
3. The first top-down and bottom-up comparison of Local Area Energy Plan's, energy network development plans, and locational connection queues, for alignment and delivery tracking. 

State of the Art Technical Innovation 

The key innovation advancement, beyond the current state of the art, demonstrated by our pilot system, is the ability to locationally correlate multiple separate datasets indexed against a fully connected intelligent energy network model. This advance will enable use cases analysis data requirements, and combined transmission and distribution network models. This innovation supersedes previously available map overlays and generalised heat maps. 

SIF Justification 

PWR is aligned to SIF Funding as it enables stakeholders from across the energy system value-chain to engage in whole system collaboration, beyond individual organisational responsibilities, and newly emerging industry roles, to remove specific blockers to Welsh decarbonisation. 

Readiness Levels 

TRL: 

• Alpha: 3->5. 
• Beta: 8 targeted: integration of multiple systems and data sources demonstrated at scale. 

IRL: 

• Alpha: 3->4. 
• Beta: 7 targeted: prove the integration between systems and interoperability.  

CRL: 

• Alpha: 4->5. 
• Beta: 8 targeted: agreement of commercialisation strategy, scale-up approach and business model. 

PWR is designed to scale for business-as-usual at the end of Beta and by targeting benefit delivery for Wales, we will ensure lessons learnt are available to benefit to the whole of the British system.  

Counterfactual 

Counterfactual solution designs for the digital twin were considered and discounted in favour of that proposed on the grounds of: 

• Data retrieval latency. 
• Alignment of data and quality. 
• User interactivity. 
• Complexity. 
• Model reusability. 

Impacts and Benefits

Powering Wales Renewably is designed to deliver both quantitative and qualitative benefits across the range of the listed SIF specific benefits areas. For transparency to the CBA and the SIF Benefit Map Template, PWR benefits are listed against the SIF defined benefits areas below. 

Financial - cost savings per annum on energy bills for consumers 

1. Increased renewable generation. 

PWR targets delivery of this benefit based on the incremental increase in renewable generation enabled by increasing the proportion of successful connection applications. In doing so, PWR will contribute to the innovation required to achieve the challenging decarbonisation targets set by the Welsh Government. 

By satisfying a greater proportion of Welsh electricity demand from lower cost renewables, the average electricity cost per unit will be reduced.  In a well-functioning market, these savings will flow to consumers via their bills. 

One of the key elements in the Welsh energy plans is to increase Welsh ownership of renewable generation including community energy, and smart local energy systems. The existing renewable generation trajectory has significant challenges due to network constraints, low application acceptance ratios, and subsequent attrition of accepted applications in the connections queue.  

Financial - future reductions in the cost of operating the network 

2. Flexibility Cost Reduction. 

Greater coordination through visibility of all network operator requirements for energy and capacity flexibility, and that available, at a portfolio level is targeted by PWR to yield cost reduction and efficiencies. Flexibility coordination will rationalise overlapping transmission and distribution flex requirements and enable the selection of the most suitable DER response site considering location, characteristics, and track-record of dispatch delivery. 

3. Value of Avoided Curtailment 

PWR is aiming to reduce curtailment and realise curtailment cost reductions through developing constraint off-setting, storage location selection, and the interaction between procured flex, ANM, and curtailment limits. 

In addition, a secondary, consequential benefit is a greater contribution from renewable generation output contribution to meeting Welsh electricity demand, through the extra renewable generation enabled; this benefit has not been financially quantified within the CBA. 

Environmental - carbon reduction – direct CO₂ savings per annum 

4. Demand Decarbonisation CO2 Savings 

PWR will enhance CO₂ savings through the additional renewable generation achieved due to the project replacing fossil fuel generation. The carbon intensity of existing electricity generation in South Wales is frequently relatively high, offering scope for CO₂ reduction. 

Financial - cost savings per annum for users of network services 

5. Enhanced Network Capacity Utilisation 

PWR targets enhanced utilisation of existing and new network capacity. The benefit delivered by PWR is expressed as a financial saving against projected business plan load related network expenditure. The projected load related expenditure is based on the RIIO-ED2 values increasing based on FES 2022 lower growth scenarios.  PWR delivers this benefit through developing constraint off-setting, storage location selection, and the interaction between procured flex, ANM, and curtailment limits. 

Others that are not SIF specific - Welsh Energy Plan Target Achievement 

6. Achievement of Welsh 2035 Electricity Decarbonisation Target. 

Wales’s decarbonisation trajectory requires innovation to achieve its 2035 target. Present progress is being hindered by network capacity availability and poor alignment of top down and bottom-up plans with the network work development and connection queue. 

Not achieving the 2035 target will lead to negative climate impacts, additional post deadline costs, and the potential for litigation from environmental pressure groups / individuals and associated penalties. 

Avoidance of these consequences can be seen as a qualitative benefit of PWR. 

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