ARC

Accelerating Renewable Connections (ARC) is an exciting initiative to help new green energy projects connect to the local power network earlier by working with local communities and electricity consumers.

ARC will help communities develop ways of using locally produced energy, allowing generators to produce more and helping all parties benefit from reduced costs.

The project is led by SP Energy Networks (SPEN) working in partnership with Community Energy Scotland, Smarter Grid Solutions and the University of Strathclyde.

Together, we are trialling Active Network Management (ANM) — a system which allows us to connect new generators to the power network more quickly and cheaply where previously the network was believed to be at fully capacity. ARC has been launched in the East Lothian and Borders region of our electricity distribution network – an area of 2,700 square kilometres stretching from North Berwick down to Holy Island, and inland as far as Hawick and Galashiels.

The project is now looking for potential renewable energy schemes in the region so it can work with developers and communities to identify the best places to connect. By matching local customers to local generators, costs can be reduced and everyone benefits.

Sub-optimal outcomes can arise because design decisions have to be taken with limited information which is superseded by new applications. ARC is important, as it helps SPEN identify ways to address this shortcoming by trialling changes to the existing connections process in collaboration with stakeholders.

The objective will be to trial a new connections process and to supplement this with new commercial arrangements and technology to accelerate the connection of renewable generation connections. Ultimately, this will enable the economic production of greater amounts of low-carbon electricity in a timely and lower cost manner.

To discuss your requirement with the project team, please email enquiries@arc-project.com.

ARC Project Partners

SPEN

SPEN owns the electricity transmission and distribution networks in Central and Southern Scotland (SP Transmission and SP Distribution), and the distribution network in Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and Shropshire (SP Manweb), serving 3.5 million customers. Our networks comprise 30,000 electricity substations, 40,000 kilometres of overhead power lines and 70,000 kilometres of underground cables.

SPEN’s parent company, ScottishPower, is part of the international Iberdrola group.

Community Energy Scotland

Community Energy Scotland (CES) is a registered charity that provides practical help for communities on green energy development and energy conservation. It is committed to working towards a secure and sustainable energy future for Scotland and tackling fuel poverty by helping communities generate their own electricity and use it efficiently.

Since 2008, CES has been involved in 1,400 projects across Scotland, from micro-generation projects to large-scale revenue-generating schemes, and has distributed over £15m of funding for community energy projects.

Smarter Grid Solutions

Smarter Grid Solutions is a Glasgow-based company offering innovative Active Network Management platforms, applications and services to help energy network operators get more from their power grids.

Using real-time monitoring and control, its systems allow the connection of more renewable energy around existing network constraints without the need for additional infrastructure.

University of Strathclyde

Internationally recognised for excellence in research in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, the University of Strathclyde provides academic oversight of the ARC project as well as collating and evaluating data to identify the best connection options for potential community energy schemes.

For more information about ARC, take a look at our handy FAQ page.

Closedown & ARC Learning Reports

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Our ARC brochures are available to view using the links below:

• SPEN ARC Learning Report 1
• SPEN ARC Learning Report 2
• SPEN ARC Learning Report 3
• Accelerating Renewable Connections Event Brochure
• Accelerating Renewable Connections Leaflet
• ARC Learning Report - Potential Commercial Arrangements for Virtual Private Wire Systems - Feb 2017
• ARC Learning Report - BHA PV Scheme Analysis - April 2016
• ARC Learning Report - Shinnel Glen Hydro Scheme Analysis - Oct 2015
• ARC Lerning Report - Background Analysis for Local Power, Local Benefit Project - Feb 2015
• ARC Learning Report - Distributed Generation on 11kV Voltage Constrained Feeders - Sept 2014
• ARC Learning Report - Coupling Demand and Distributed Generation to Accelerate Renewable Connections - April 2014

Project Films

ARC Project films are available to view using the links below: