Distributed energy management platform goes live in Thames Valley council trial

London — The first phase of a distributed smart grid project involving six local authorities in the Thames Valley has gone live, Glasgow-based software company Smarter Grid Solutions said Aug. 26.

The Thames Valley Live Lab is designed to help local authorities reduce their carbon footprints via a platform that monitors and manages solar panels, electric vehicle charging points and other flexible electrical equipment in the authorities' facilities.

"The platform has gone live this month with energy assets from the first two councils – Reading Borough Council and Wokingham Borough Council – connecting to the system in the coming two months," SGS said.

The assets include solar PV installations and EV chargers at multiple authority sites including schools, depots and offices.

At least one of the sites has battery storage planned for later in the trial period, SGS said.

"The sum total of energy assets is only in the 10s to 100s kW scale in the trial period, but most of the participating local authorities have declared climate emergencies and have net zero carbon roadmaps, so many more sites and energy assets are expected to connect to the energy management platform in follow on phases," it said.

The technology at the heart of the platform, SGS' ANM Strata product, has recently been selected by UK utility SSE for its "Energy as a Service" platform, and is being used in a battery optimization project in New York State's Future Grid Challenge.

In all, the product manages grid connections of nearly 450 MW of renewable generation in the UK and the US.

Supported by funding from the UK's Department of Transport, local authorities are working on eight projects across England to introduce digital innovation across mobility, transport, highways maintenance, data, energy and communications.

The Thames Valley platform will schedule when assets are operated to save money and reduce emissions. Functionalities include setting EV charge rates and remotely scheduling building energy use.

"It is now possible to scale low carbon technology deployments up to really significant levels and capture all the energy and flexibility benefits for a local authority area," SGS' Graham Ault said.

"Having this rich data on our energy assets will help to influence how we develop the transport, mobility, and even health areas of the Live Lab project and local authority operations thereafter," said Simon Beasley of Reading Borough Council.

The four other participating councils – Bracknell Forest Council, the Royal Borough of Windsor, Slough Borough Council, and West Berks Council – are to connect assets to the project over the course of the coming year.