Capula providing OT system integration insights as part of National Grid ESO's: Bridging the Gap to Net Zero by 2030

As part of National Grid ESO’s Future Energy System: Bridging the Gap to Net Zero by 2030 programme, Capula was selected as an industry stakeholder to provide insights to the Technology workstream (the others being Data & Digitalisation and Markets)

The challenge posed was to consider which technologies have the potential to have the biggest positive impact in a future where there will be many more participants and interactions in the energy system.

The aim of the workshop was not to provide definitive answers, but rather find recommendations and direct actions which can be supported across the energy industry.

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The key outcome from the Technology workstream was that there was not a 'silver bullet' or a single technology that could deliver “the biggest bang for buck” in decarbonising the future energy system. It was agreed that to deal with the interactions, the future energy system must intelligently manage changes in the peaks and troughs of energy supply and demand, and to do this it will require combinations of the best technologies working in harmony, and at scale.

To achieve this, the main barrier foreseen is that it doesn’t matter which technology or topology is used or applied, all of these technologies and systems will be actors in the ‘whole energy system’ and must have inbuilt intelligence (AI) to take the best autonomous decisions in what will be a highly complex system, with millions of variables and interactions e.g. the systems needs to get smarter before it can get bigger and better.

The Workstream identified that current Operational Technology (OT) and IT systems lack clear distinction between their respective responsibilities in the context of an increasingly decentralised future. It was agreed that to Bridge the Gap to Net Zero by 2030, our existing systems must become digital, with technologies better integrated to efficiently manage and reduce congestion. This will help to optimally balance our energy system.

National Grid ESO will be consolidating the output from the three Workstreams, culminating in a report on their findings and a series of recommendations in February 2021.

You can see the slides from the Technology Workstream here: https://www.nationalgrideso.com/document/182916/download



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