LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — (Marketwire) — 05/14/12 — The Customer-Led Network Revolution is a joint initiative, launched by Northern Powergrid and its partners, to help move the UK towards a low-carbon economy. The aim of the GBP 54 million study is to find out how customers can reduce carbon emissions and save money, by examining 14,000 homes in the North East and Yorkshire.
As part of the scheme, the partners will look at how they can introduce low-carbon technologies to the grid. Speeding up the implementation of such technologies by just one year could save the UK GBP 8 million in energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions by 43 million tonnes.
President of Northern Powergrid, Phil Jones, claimed: “This is a project whose time has come. What is being contemplated in the electricity industry is nothing short of a revolution. It used to be that all the power came from a few power stations to every property – and all the energy flowed one way. The prospect of smarter networks opens up a whole new set of possibilities – customers can generate their own energy and use home-based technology to regulate how and when they use it.”
The partners will be utilising data from 14,000 that have already been rolled out in the North East and Yorkshire. Around 2,500 customers will also be installing low-carbon technologies – such as the means to charge electric cars, heat pumps and solar PV panels – in an attempt to use and help the partners understand how the addition of these technologies would affect the grid. That understanding will then be extrapolated across the UK using data from over 200,000 Smart Meters.
Alongside the trailing of new technologies, the initiative will also address new pricing models, with the aim of finding out how the energy industry can best meet the needs of customers at the minimum cost.
Results of the study will be published and freely available to access by all.
Contacts:
Felicity Callaghan
+44 (0)7769 542 360