Navigating the new energy landscape
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DATA: A RESOURCE TO BE SHARED
On a smaller, but no less important scale, formalised record keeping of ‘fragmented’ assets such as solar panel or wind turbine installations on domestic properties would also help the industry more accurately map, forecast and plan for supply and demand. Open Banking was held up as an example of the benefits of a more transparent and collaborative data architecture by Olivier Thereaux, Head of Technology at the Open Data Institute. By increasing access to customer data, the initiative has succeeded in opening up innovation to create new products and services. In order for such an approach to work, the idea must be challenged that data is a commodity to be hoarded or sold, or represents a threat to be feared, he said. Instead “data should be seen as infrastructure”, much like our transport network, which acts as an enabler to commerce and value creation and is shared and governed publicly. Therefore, standards, rules and oversight are essential to create a framework that is trustworthy, sustainable and scalable – something that is still in the relatively early stages of development.
Today, data is playing a critical role in unlocking value in all industries and energy is no different. Many businesses are grappling with collating and using it in the best way, let alone sharing it with others – but sharing is vital if a more flexible, open energy model is to be created, said Stuart Ravens, Chief Analyst at Global Data. That requires a change of culture that will admittedly not be easy to achieve. The benefits of data sharing were illustrated by Clyde & Co Partner Brian Greenwood in his talk about open visibility of infrastructure assets and its effect of the planning and consenting process. For example, having access to infrastructure maps of mainland assets is vital for offshore windfarm developers to know where to land under-sea cabling. However, though it would be to the advantage of all concerned, such information is far from readily available. Barnaby Wharton, Director of Future Electricity Systems at RenewableUK made the point that Australia is already mapping all asset connections to the grid and called on the UK to take this forward on a more centralised basis.
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