A project proposed by the future networks team at SSEN to develop new ways of accelerating and widening the roll-out of heat pumps has been given almost half a million pounds in new funding from Ofgem’s strategic innovation fund.
The ‘EqualLCT’ project will use network data to show areas where a rollout of heat pumps could be coordinated with energy efficiency measures such as better insulation to reduce demand for electricity at peak times.
As well as their ability to run on clean, renewable electricity, another major advantage of heat pumps is their ability to be scheduled to use power when demand is lower. EqualLCT leans into this, by combining the technology’s inherent strengths with the well-established use of energy efficiency measures as a means of conserving heat in homes, SSEN said.
The technology behind SSEN’s award-winning local energy net zero accelerator (LENZA) tool, underpins EqualLCT. LENZA is already helping dozens of planners in local authorities across its two licence areas make decisions about where best to locate low-carbon technologies in their communities.
SSEN’s innovation team will overlay LENZA’s existing data layers with information on housing stock, anonymised customer data, and details of any relevant schemes which are available in local areas.
Ross Bibby, who is the project manager for EqualLCT at SSEN Distribution, said, “At SSEN, we’re leading the way in the transition to net zero, but we know an integral part of this journey involves supporting everyone in our communities to make the choices which will benefit our environment. We know there are currently a number of factors preventing some people from adopting new low carbon technologies, and EqualLCT was born out of a desire to remove these barriers.
“We’re just setting out on our journey to develop this idea, but we expect that if realised, it could cut customers’ bills and defer millions of pounds of network reinforcement.
“The decision by Ofgem’s strategic innovation fund to back this new phase of this project means we and our partners from the energy experts Baringa and SMS will be able to establish a proof of concept for this idea. We’d then hope to demonstrate and operate the technology we’re developing by the end of 2025.”
