The Future Of Britains Electricity Networks PDF Download

In this report the Committee calls on the Government to provide strategic leadership to ensure the timely delivery of a smart grid. Existing regulatory and policy frameworks, along with the current grid infrastructure, were developed to serve the fossil fuel economy of the twentieth century. By 2020 the UK electricity network will need to accommodate a far more diverse energy mix that includes a much higher proportion of renewables that cannot respond so easily to fluctuating demand. The only cost-effective response to these developments is the creation of a smart grid that intelligently manages demand and supply across the energy system. Concerns noted in the report include: Ofgem granting funding for new grid investment projects before the completion of a fundamental review of how better use can be made of the existing network; the increase in the cost of managing electricity flows across the system caused by inherent flaws in the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA); the industry's failure to agree a new transmission access regime that will tackle the queue of 60 GW of generation, a large proportion of which is renewables, waiting to connect to the grid; the absence of a "culture of innovation" within the networks sector; the growing shortage of trained people in the networks sector.