event jointly staged by matthew rhodes encraft. copyright © encraft ltd 2011 t: 01926 312 159 | ...
TRANSCRIPT
Event jointlystaged by
Matthew RhodesEncraft
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
The energy policy minefield
Local Housing and Sustainable Communities
Matthew Rhodes
24 November 2015
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
Encraft is an engineering and building physics consultancy working at the leading edge of the low carbon energy sector
Distributed Energy Projects
• Community energy
• Smart grids
• District heating and CHP
• Feasibility studies
• Project development
• Programme management
Web ApplicationsBuilding Physics
The company has grown from a start-up in 2003 to employ 20 professional staff and operate in three specialist areas
• Certified Passivhaus Consultants
• Building energy modelling
• Very low carbon retrofit
• First-principles design
• Technology analysis
• Microgeneration specification tools
• Planning compliance
• Asset review
• Bespoke web applications
• Mobile devices
Kate Ashworth CEng MIMechEPractice Head
Helen BrownMPhys, CEPHPractice Head
TECHNICAL ASSURANCE
Graham EastwickCEng MIETPractice Head
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
Key points
• Technology and economics are now well ahead of regulation and politics• Smarter regulation is critical• Things can, and will, only get better
(Important note: Energy policy is not a minefield. It is a war zone.)
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
Who said this?
“What is crucial is what consumers will want. In the past all consumers got the same. One size fits all. Now one size will not fit all. People will want to interact with energy in many different ways.”
“The world is clearly moving towards much more distributed generation and towards microgrids”
“The idea of baseload power is already outdated. I think you should look at this the other way around. From a consumer’s point of view, baseload is what I am producing myself....for small consumers you need flexibility.”
“We will have the intelligence available in the system to ensure power is consumed when [renewables] are available and not when [they] are not there.”
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
There are multiple theoretical economic opportunities
• Local balancing of supply and demand• Between houses• Between time periods (load shifting)
• Demand response services• STOR• Frequency Response• “The people’s power station”
Technically all these need is a meter, effective aggregation (= low cost communication) and the capability to switch
appliances on and off remotely
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
Regulatory challenges
• Housing is considered as neither energy nor infrastructure, and yet it’s core to both
> People live in houses supplied with energy via national infrastructure, but you’re not allowed to think about these policy areas together
> Building standards dictate energy policy….• Costs of retail supply licence• Market definition limited to sale of kWh – and religious commitment to
switching within this definition• Distribution network regulation• Too many economists and not enough engineers
> Unable to deal with technology-driven structural change
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
But regulation is easier to change than technology, which has pros as well as cons
Con Pro
Copyright © Encraft Ltd 2011T: 01926 312 159 | www.encraft.co.uk
More information
Matthew RhodesManaging Director
[email protected] 312159