< Project Overview >
The UK has invested heavily in Data Communications Company for smart meter technology, but restricting use to smart meters will lead to investment under-utilised. This ecosystem project will consider if wider use of DCC communications is technically and financially viable.
This project will develop an ecosystem to introduce a flexible local market in Oxfordshire, involving stakeholders in all parts of the energy supply chain. The ecosystem project will provide a much-needed mechanism to reinforce reliability in an untested environment. This capability will make the distribution network, more efficient, robust and intelligent.
Specific barriers addressed during this project are:
- Technology maturity and capabilities – technology considered during this project has not been deployed anywhere in the world. This technology will boost Oxfordshire as a potential world leader for local energy systems
- Lack of operating models – This project will enable the operation of a local flexibility market which will provide economic and operational incentives both the DSO and its customers
- Lack of infrastructure – This project will develop technologies which allow suppliers to consider flexibility in the wider context of the supply chain and wider process overview
Project Lead
Professor Malcolm McCulloch – University of Oxford