Caroline Blair:
Welcome back to our latest instalment of Powering Conversations. I'm Caroline Blair. Today we are diving into the transformation and advancement of our distribution network. Building on the insights from episode two about distribution system operation. We'll explore the latest developments in Low Carbon Technologies, or LCT, customer needs and resilience strategies as we strive towards Net Zero. Our expert guests will be sharing their perspectives on how innovations are enhancing efficiency, sustainability and adaptability in the supply chain, while focusing on the real world impacts and outcomes that matter most to customers.
So today I'm joined by a fantastic team of experts, Iain Divers, head of distribution networks at SP Energy Networks. Graham Ault, founder and executive vice president of products and markets at Smarter Grid Solutions, and Angela Love, who also holds a number of positions within the industry, including chair of SP Energy Networks independent Net Zero Advisor Council, which for the purposes of this podcast, we will affectionally refer to as INZAC
So, the best place to begin is always with you, yourselves and hearing a bit more about what it is that your role is starting with yourself Iain, and how your role as head of distribution networks at Energy Networks, how that fits into the bigger picture in the context of today's episode.
Iain Divers:
Sure. So, head of distribution networks, what does that mean?
So, I'm in charge of setting out all the strategies the policy and effectively, what do we do with all the equipment that we have? Where are we going. Kind of like the air traffic control almost for our two distribution areas in southern and central Scotland and across Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, and Mid Wales as well.
So, we're kind of got to connect hemispheres I guess in my work brain to one hand is one side is focused on the assets themselves, the millions of components of the electrical system and what we do with those.
And the other half is focused on the interconnection of those assets into the system. So, forecasting and planning and developing for the future network that we need as well as managing that when we have today. And my background is I've been nearly 20 years and in SP Energy networks from a graduate and working from field operations. We were literally in fields all the way through into a kind of a head of asset management role, I’m in just now.
Caroline Blair:
We will look to bring that into it, because I think it's hugely important to the conversation and the context around this, the fact that you have experienced all areas of this organisation right through, which is hugely helpful.
Moving on to yourself then, Graham, in your capacity as founder and executive VP of Products and Markets, that's with Smarter Grid Solutions. How do you, how does your role fit into this conversation?
Iain Divers:
Yes. Okay. So, thank you. So very nice to be part of this conversation. And so, my background is power system economics, power system analysis power system markets.
And so, for many years I did academic research. And then with the other founders of Smart Solutions, we did some research that leads to an innovation that we used to form smart grid solutions. So smarter solutions, does those smart grid things. And I'm sure we'll talk more about what that is. So, software digital solutions then that helps companies like Iain's, SP Energy Networks to monitor and manage their power network more flexibly and more smartly using digital technologies.
So, I’ve had a number of roles over the years. And, bringing that into being, through innovation and commercialisation. But now my role in the last year has morphed into something with our parent company, Mitsubishi Electric. They they're looking at global markets for products and solutions for digital energy. This has taken what we've done in smart grid solutions and put it onto bigger canvas at a global level, I suppose.
Caroline Blair:
Because that's where this conversation sits. This is not just a UK situation. This is a global picture that we're talking about, which we'll, we'll further explore, at this point and Angela Love bringing yourself into this. It does say here, you have a number of roles within the industry. So you're no stranger to the sector. And you're here in your capacity as chair of the Net Zero Advisory Council of INZAC.
How do you fit into this landscape today?
Angela Love:
So, the Net Zero Advisory Council, There Independent, as the I suggests, is a group that's been set up by SPEN and is required by Ofgem the regulator, which looks to challenge the company around their business plans and how they're engaging with their stakeholders about what their plans need to consider.
So that looks across all different customers. Be the end consumers or and large companies like Network Rail and other manufacturing companies in Scotland and how SPEN is actually addressing their concerns and things that they need, and also looking at new technologies. So that group is about ten strong of people with different perspectives around the table. To be able to challenge, SPEN’s thinking and give some comfort to Ofgem, the regulator, about what it is that SPEN are proposing to do.
So that's really what the INZAC role is, it's around the business plan. It's around delivering the commitments that are in the plan and making sure that there's a consumer and a stakeholder voice around that table, as well as challenging the company around technology and skills and engineering and all those different things that the company has to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
In terms of the other roles that I have, I do a similar role for Cadent Gas, who are the largest gas distribution company in Great Britain. So, similarly, that role is challenging them around their plans. So, I have a whole systems part of them of the work that I do. In addition, for three days of my week, I also chaired the Smart Energy Code company, who are responsible for the governance of the smart metering arrangements, smart metering being the cornerstone of the future electricity system, and how customers can engage in that system and how cost can be reduced and the system optimised.
So that's another big part of the role that I do.
Caroline Blair:
So real breadth there, but also hugely important to have that and in position at this really key point in the evolution of the networks. So, in episode two, then we focused on distribution system operation or DSO. Iain staring with yourself, can you explain then the rules of distribution network operators and how they interconnect and how they complement the DSO's.
Iain Divers:
Sure. That's so the distribution network operator I guess, DSO is like the industry term, regulatory term for the businesses that build and orderly and operate the assets of the electricity distribution network. So, transmission dealing with the current of the motorways, as it were by analogy, and the distribution network, you know, is the off ramp into the E routes, B road all the way down to the small farm tracks, all across the country in terms of the network itself.
So, DSO has been an evolution for well over a decade about really the smart grids. It's been talked about for a long time, and where do we need to take that? I guess it can be quite a complex distinction. Those lots happen in that area. But I have a very simple frame of reference for this, which is that, you know, when I started in this company and like, you know, day one, it was very simple, five words around about what our purpose was, which is we keep the lights on.
Angela Love:
It is simply as simple as that.
Iain Divers:
As simple as that, that was the kind of the core part of it. This is what our role is, but that's changing and evolving. So, we still have to do that. And that's I guess what we frame in the DNO world is that we have to make sure we've got safe, reliable, secure assets, deliver value for the customer.
What we also now have to enable net zero. I don’t know if that’s the same five words, or, another five word thing. But it's really important. So, this is actually now the network is changing in many cases. It's actually, you know getting turned upside down from what it was originally designed to do over, you know, of course of nearly a century we were talking invention smart meters there.
They're the old are oldest parts of the network and in many cases in the low voltage network, customers are interacting more. We've got more generation and all parts of our, our network. And that completely changes what it was originally designed to do. The envelope of this operation is changing. So really that DSO part is about managing much more like a real time operation of that system.
It's about improving the visibility of that network and actually engaging stakeholders as well. So, and providing data, providing that interaction and so the DNO in partnership with the DSO elements of the organisation can make sure that everyone can get access to the systems, evolves in the right way and that we still operate it safely and reliable.
Caroline Blair:
So, you're keeping the lights on your switching new lights on because we've got increasing demand on the network.
And in addition to that you're also doing it under very different parameters. And a set of targets are, net zero is not, it requires this level of thought, this level of planning and strategy.
Iain Divers:
Absolutely. We need to get the most out of the network that we have. So, we need to get as much out of the capacity that we have. We need to make sure it operates in the right parameters. But obviously it's we've got other opportunities in there as well, for example. So, if you have an EV or you have a, solar generation, your house, for example, you know, what opportunity to generate onto the network itself.
And that brings a different sort of interaction there. We do have lots of stakeholders, that are national, regional and local level. So local governments like for example, might the City of Liverpool, City of Edinburgh, for example, and they’ve big plans for how they want to roll electrification of heat or electrification of the transport themselves. So, it's how do we blend that with our other core deliverables, as it were, in terms of keeping the lights on.
But how do we develop it in the right way so that we can make sure the future smart grid genuinely is built in the right way and can satisfy all of our customers and all of our stakeholders.
Caroline Blair:
Okay, let's keep on that theme then, with Angela, if we can turn to you. So, in our first episode, we discussed the monumental transformation as Iain just related to their it's happening with an electricity network. What are the major challenges and what are the major well opportunities that we see that distribution network operators are facing during this transformation. And I suppose how can you address and how are you, how are we address them.
Angela Love:
So, I think one of the things, as was to point out, is in terms of the way the network operates.
So, at the moment we have quite a what they call a peaky demand. So, a lot of people switch their toaster on with the kettle on in the morning, and then when they come at night, they're doing the same for their tea or dinner. And there's manufacturing that goes on and offices that are not using electricity during the day when you get to kind of 10:00 at night overnight, there's not a lot of use of the network.
So, one of the things that is central in terms of making the most of the network, and as Iain talks about getting the most out of it, is trying to meet that demand during 24 hours. So one of the challenges is how do you engage customers in that?
One of the things is about price. Energy prices are through the roof at the moment. It's really sad what we’ve got to at the moment in terms of the cost to the consumer, but one of the things we need to do is how do we reduce that reduction, you know, the peak during the day and smooth that out during the full 24 hours?
Because when you put energy over the network, the more you put over that, the more you lose to transport it. So, it's less efficient. So, if you can push that over the night and make it a more smooth transportation of the energy over the wires all day, then you reduce the cost to the customer. And one of the things that you do with the customer and some companies already doing it is incentivise them at a price.
So, some of the companies are incentivising customers to use at the weekend because it's not so peaky at the weekend as well. Like half price deals or free electricity. Customers can then charge up the appliances, the phone, you know, do their washing at the weekend. All of these things help smooth out that demand, as we call it, and that then reduces the cost of the system. But really, to be able to engage the customer, that's about the cost I think, really getting them engaged. That they can save if they use it in a different way.
Caroline Blair:
So tangible reason, isn't it?
Angela Love:
It is. It's a real time special reason at the moment.
Caroline Blair:
And we do see that those who contribute to the grid, whether it's through wind turbines or solar panels within their home, there is perhaps that behaviour shifts that takes place already. You know, you're doing laundry in the middle of the night or in the middle. You know, you're making sure that you're working with the solar timings, etc.
So, at this point we will be bringing you in, into this narrative and but just keeping on this theme at the moment before we talk about the specific technologies and how and the hardware I suppose to some degree around it.
And just with yourself again, Angela, DNO, they have to juggle multiple priorities is not straightforward. And, you know, you've got connectivity, you've got resilience, you've got reliability, you've got service improvement. So how in your overview how ready managing to strike that balance among these really critical aspects.
Angela Love:
So, I think this is one of the things that we do look at on the INZAC is the company get feedback from customers. They get feedback from stakeholders, you know. So for example, the regulator, the government, different governments over the UK and they have to look to see, well, what is our priority, how do we actually deliver the safe and reliable supplies of low costs, and how is it sustainable. And what they do is, and we encourage them to do is listen to all of those voices, but then look to see what their licenses they have a license to operate from the regulator.
And what we talk about is they need to triangulate over those voices that they shouldn't be doing everything that everybody wants, because it will cost them a lot of money. So they have to balance all of the different priorities that they have against the license, but also ultimately against the cost consumer, because we need to try to make the most of the assets that we have, and listen to the different voices.
But balancing the cost. Companies get a real approach to that; about how do they look at the different aspects and how do they balance against the license requirements?
Caroline Blair:
That ultimately boils that down to every time it's the customers, isn’t it. And that's where that's where, as we say at the coalface. So, I'm going to really lead into your expertise here, Iain, for a bit of a recap and a reminder and I suppose an overview then, of that difference between the DSO and the DNO particularly in relation to what Angelos just said around resilience, reliability.
Iain Divers:
So the DNO absolutely has to make sure that network that we manage day to day, the tens of thousands of substations out, well over 100,000km of network, make sure that every day that's safe, that it's reliable, and that we deliver the performance and the value for our customers that we serve will always be the end consumers or the connecting customers as best as we can.
Over the last number of years. The evolution isn't towards distribution system operator really system operation. And that's because the context is changing not only on the technology that's available, but actually the participation on that network. So for example, generation is now across our entire network. It's going to turn bits on its head from what it was previously. It was never designed in its original way. And this patchwork of a network that we've built up over the course of well over a century.
Angela Love:
Fixing bits here and there, extending it.
Iain Divers:
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, it's completely changed the, transformed it and that will happen more in the near future as well. So, it's going to be more interactive. It's going to be more complex to manage. And that's where we need to manage all those elements within the envelope of it's safe operation, but also enabling more people to get involved and that very, very simply. So that might be end consumers that want to, for example, interact through the PV or the electric vehicles and, you know, taking from the grid or generating on to back onto the grid to all sorts of renewable generation or battery systems that want to interact with our grid as well participate in the market.
And so that's our responsibility to manage both those things about making sure the network is itself is intact, but also making sure how it operates day to day and interacting even with the transmission system as safe and reliable and secure as well.
Caroline Blair:
And with that's going to surely come growth in terms of work too.
Iain Divers:
Absolutely. It's a big opportunity for us, but it's also a big challenge and a big opportunity.
So, the growth is going to come in terms of the scale and pace of that. So how do we enable all these new participants to connect or to interact. So that may be, you know, as a consumer, if you want to connect an electric vehicle or heat pump to your home, but how do we enable that in advance or, and enable you to connect because you expect to be served by the system? Right.
We've been historically; to borrow a term, we've been kind of the silent servant right in the background until the electricity. But we're now much more in the spotlight. You know, customers know expect never really had to worry much about their electricity supply to their home. But now all of a sudden, it’s can we get connected, we've got, you know, huge increase in a request to connect to our network because we have to satisfy all those demands.
And that is a big challenge for us also in terms of leasing, at the supply chain, for example, to make sure that we can, you know, make sure will invest in that network, we can grow and get as much value from it as possible, because you can't possibly, we can’t build double the network for double demand. But there's a big opportunity in there as well, which is actually about growth. So we can, you know, take in smart grid solutions is a good example of innovation that's grown and scaled as a great opportunity to enable. Net zero growth rate as a part of the growth engine in the UK economy. You know, we can do that is also by actually have organisation grows. We've got a local footprint. We need to grow, and we need to create investment opportunities to actually build the network that we need for the future.
Caroline Blair:
Well, we did say Graham that we would be bringing you in and we really are now. So, Iain's terd us up brilliantly there. What innovative strategies and technologies, then are DNO adopting to meet all of those priorities to ultimately enhance their operations.
Iain Divers:
This is a number of things that, DNO and DSO are already doing that are innovative, that are changing things in line with what Iain and Angela have said. There, you know, off building, anticipating then building the right infrastructure and then using that in a way which is really useful for end users and consumers of the of the network itself.
My company at Smart Solutions, what we do is, digital solution and it's just one of several that are now being trialled or in our case, rolled out at scale by SP energy networks and other DNO. That's effectively just measures what's going on in the grid at specific points. So that if you take Iain's roads picture earlier, is there congestion happening just now and is it in the same way that the digital solution for that is that data gets itself into Google Maps or Apple Maps and, you know, traffic and your routes can be rerouted in accordance with how busy the roads are.
You're doing the same for the power grids, where you're monitoring what's flowing at what point in the day, what the cause of that is because there's sunshine in this lot PV, or because it's windy with a little wind, or because everybody's charging an EV car and there's a lot of demand. So working out what the reason is for the congestion in the power grids and then taking some actions according to some rules.
And that sounds very simple. But those rules are really important because we don't want to disadvantage customers. We want to provide a financial incentive for or an inducement to wants to play a part in that flexibility, so our solution does, that. It gathers data about what's happening, makes decisions according to these set of business rules. Some of those are, from the regulator as well. Some of them are because your companies like SP Energy Networks will listen to our customers. We prefer this. We wouldn't like that. And we build that into the digital solution that implements that day by day.
Angela Love:
But ultimately the end goal is to keep the traffic moving. That's your best case scenario is to provide innovation, to fight technologies that can ensure that the demand, the behavioural shift that we're hoping will come from the consumer will align eventually. And in an ideal world, it'll all fall into place. But you're providing the information that will show what the picture looks like and how best to tell.
Iain Divers:
Exactly, exactly. And that's then the backbone for a lot of other innovation, because as soon as you've got that data, as soon as you've got the ability to change what happens in the power grid and, you know, through incentives or through different rules, what's different suppliers or storage companies or EV providers and future customers do it.
That gives you the chance to do all sorts of new and quite exciting things that help customers give them more, competition, give more choice over providers of different services in the same way that, you know, as my picture earlier Google Maps. It does a lot of things. You know, once it's got some basic pictures of the infrastructure, know where buildings are, where roads are there's no end of things that you can do with that. So, if you if you look at transports, it's interesting actually, that, you know, the way, as Angela was saying, to make things good for customers have been a revolution in how people own a car. You know, that's a fully packaged service that's provides its customers. It really helps them in the way that it's finance, the way they pay for it.
Now, that could be the case for electricity as well, where the services and innovation and top of this basic backbone of the wires and then the basic backbone of the digital technologies, all these new services can then appear, which is something that our companies doing. And then the role I described for and I'm doing for Mitsubishi Electric now that's taking that further and looking globally and looking wider, looking into the future to see. Right. What were those services look like. You know, what the customers and users of the network really wants and needs. And we're trying to work out which is complex.
Caroline Blair:
And a reminder that and this is a global picture that we are talking about the UK landscape by actually. We are fitting into a much wider. This is a global a global exercise effectively.
Iain Divers:
Yes. Absolutely, and it starts, you know our company's Smarter solutions started very small was spun out of a university working with you know the likes of SP Energy Networks. So, you've got you've still got a lot of vibrancy and smaller innovators like that.
But then the bigger global companies and they're taking that to a much larger scale because, you know, if you think about the digital infrastructure, that's all about, you know, Nvidia AI chips or Google and Microsoft Cloud, you see you need that level of really efficient, really flexible, really sophisticated infrastructure to run, you know, digital grids effectively. And that’s what Mitsubishi Electric are doing.
Caroline Blair:
Iain we are talking about major changes to the way people interact with their power. So, we've talked about the money incentivisation there. And that is a very powerful one. But we're talking also about wholesale, potentially wholesale changes in the way that we use and consume our energy. Are you confident that the consumer will be able to embrace the change and will? It was a great analogy, about cars, when we look at how we buy cars, that there is clearly a way to do that. And are you confident that we're on the right track in terms of that journey?
Iain Divers:
So, I think we are, I hope you are, I think, but as ever, we’re in the foothills of this transition, ultimately, I think it is of great analogy, for Graham. I guess that's a really exciting one as well, to stretch it, possibly to breaking point.
And what’s really interesting, and excites me as well as, you know, we can help through our organisation by being that road network. You know, which people use effectively. Again, another analogy extended, but can we be that platform, that app store or whatever? You know, we can help enable all of that. Enablement is really key for me. And I think that the way that we can help do that is by of course, embracing innovation from the likes of Graham’s organisation.
And I think that's a great example obviously. Look out, you know, a local company to here in Glasgow where we are, and how that’s scaled to move into an international platform. It's a fantastic example. But also, what we have to ensure is actually we are working and are able to make sure we can meet the scale and the pace of that change.
So, we've got, you know, well over 100,000km of cables and wires. We've got, you know, tens of thousands of substations. We've got 3.5 million homes and businesses at the end of our network that are all. Well, will go through this transition at some stage. And I think that what we're seeing is with people that are now, you know, get involved in, you know, owning EVs or electrification. And that’s done by individuals and by local authorities as well, they're upgrading social housing, for example, and we're starting to see this transition happen. And it's really important. And one of our central roles, and one of my central rules to make sure that forecasting and planning is appropriate, adaptable and reality as we need to embrace that innovation to make sure that can happen, because you have to effectively have to rewire a network to get towards your net zero.
That's going to be like a doubling over the peak demand. You mentioned those with a doubling of capacity, but we know we can't build twice the size of network, right. Can physically do that. We have to renew the network that we have. We need to extend it, we need to extract as much value as we can, because we also need to keep cost low to Angela's point here. We pay, all our customers, pay for the services that we provide or the electricity bill ultimately. So, it's really important for us that we get the value and also to offer the performance, make sure it's safe, it's reliable, and service isn't interrupted. And then ultimately, we deliver the apps or the interactions that our customers want and expect.
Caroline Blair:
Because Angela ultimately this has to happen. It is happening, but in achieving it is made far smoother. I suppose when you've got the stakeholder engagement, Iain as you're mentioning, there in local authorities even are upgrading, updating and the housing to ensure that the that your consumers but also that that their residents are improving. So, there are real tangible benefits across the boards to it's an opportune time.
Angela Love:
So, I think one of the things for SPEN and companies like SPEN is that their stakeholder group has expanded. You know, when you look at net zero, it's about electrification of transport. It's about the electrification of heat. It's about customers having different products at home, electric vehicles, ground source heat pumps, all of these different things. So, the companies having to deal with a lot more stakeholders and different stakeholders that they've never had to deal with before and engage with customers whereas before, it just all happened that's not the situation now.
Customers have to engage and move to net zero to introduce new products and different ways of using that energy so that we can deliver net zero. So, the stakeholder landscape is entirely changed for the company, and as well as the way the company needs to deal with those stakeholders.
Caroline Blair:
So, there's so much buy in across the board as we've heard here in this episode, I'm going to start with yourself then Graham with this question. But I'd like to offer it to all three of you. If you were to name one thing that you're excited about in this distribution network evolution, what would it be?
Iain Divers:
It actually builds on what I said earlier about you're building this digital backbone. Know, where there's lots of data, which produces lots of service opportunities. And if you then blend that with customer choice, markets and innovation, you then get to a situation. And this is exciting where you pick up what Angela said, the consumers of all types, you know, if you're in a fleet vehicle user, you’ve changed to electrified vehicles. If you're a commercial company, you're heating your building or running your process in a different way. If you are an average householder, you may have a battery in future, PV panel an EV, a heat pump to your house.
To do that all efficiently. We've mentioned costs a couple of times to do that efficiently, you'll have all these service providers either financing that stuff for, forecasting your needs the day ahead and telling you or just doing it for you. The best time to use energy is to consume energy to charge your car, heat your home.
So is this amazing and quite exciting array of new possibilities for users of electricity. It's a few dependencies in that. Angela introduced herself by talking about smart meters. Of course, we have to meter a bit more smartly for all of the, all of the population and all of the businesses. We need to get that information in the data and, out to users and service providers and innovators, and that's what Iain said about being a facilitator comes in. Some of that data is from the power network, some of it some elsewhere, of course, about markets or weather or, behaviour patterns of users. But bringing that all together and just unleashing, you know a total revolution of the way we view energy and use energy in much the same way that you, the smartphone, has done with a number of services I counted yesterday because I thought this question might come up. I have 99 different apps. And that's me actually stripped back though, because I do that because I’m tidy, stripped back a lot of the useless apps that, I've tried over the years, but it's the 99 what I class as it value adding apps to do everything in my life. Wither switch my heating on or look at what my car is doing while it's on charge or book transport or look at the weather.
Taking that forward into the electricity network of the future. And it's not far away. There’re a few pieces, you know, regulation, policy, new data technology, Investment. There’s a few things have to happen, but we're getting close to that and then unlocks the net zero, the fully participative electricity system, as consumers know, very smart and resilient grids with the energy networks will build.
So, there's a lot of excitement. And it feels like it's just that out there with a few last things to do to really enable that
Caroline Blair:
And all adding value to you as an individual. The examples that you've given, they’re just now or something that you can look forward to in terms of once you get used to having that smartphone with all the apps you can, you can really benefit from it, and it makes life easier.
Angela, what a beautiful way Graham just described that. What were your thoughts then? When we talk about the one thing that excites you about this.
Angela Love:
I think similar to Graham in terms of new technologies and how we can engage customers. But one of the things we really need to consider, which SPEN are looking at now, as well as the regulator and other companies, is how do we make sure that vulnerable customers are customers that aren't tech enabled are also part of this journey? There's transformational work that's been carried out. SPEN has an assistance program where they give funds to different community groups to help customers that are in vulnerable situations. And a lot of that is providing like solar panels and batteries. And that's transformational for these customers because they're no longer reliant on the grid or buying energy from someone else of generating it themselves and sometimes selling it back onto the grid.
So, there's lots of opportunity that can be a, you know, made available to customers the customers can engage with. But we need to make sure that that's available for all customers because again, it can be transformational. That's one of the things that excites me is how do we use this for the good of everybody? How do we reduce bills? How do we engage customers, and how do we look after those people that can't look after themselves? And there's real opportunities. There's already seeds of that happening at the moment. But it needs to be further rolled out and make sure that we give everybody the opportunity from the smart network.
Caroline Blair:
And how important that is to consider all consumers, including those that either can't or choose not to engage with modernization within their homes or doing that in independent lives, Individuals lives.
So then over to you, Iain. What are you most excited about and given your history and your context? I think there's probably quite a few options. If you could sum up with one, what would excite you most?
Ian Divers:
Probably about building both of those answers there. Because I think it is. I guess, to be a very simple frame I have is just kind of two parts to, I guess, organisation on my team role, for example, is you work, you have to save a lot of goals, right? You have to stop, and you know, issue performance is there and make sure we manage risk. But I also have a big opportunity in scoring goals. Right. And leading and developing things. And that's what's really exciting. And I think Graham’s absolutely right on the digital revolution and what we can do with that. And absolutely Angela's point about actually the customers and the communities that we serve, and to combine both those things is one example is for a number of years, we've been developing a digital model, a virtual representation of our network.
And we've been developing that such that we can forecast that we develop, we can tap into that model, and that goes out towards 2050, and we're building up our radar system effectively on the lowest parts of the network, the last mile of the network, which we've never had before since it was constructed. Between smart meters. And new tech was deploying. So now this very sophisticated data modelling system backed up with the AI that we've developed, we've put in the hard yards for many years to do this. And now we can kind of figure out where the hotspots are in our network. And that's a fantastic evolution for us. And we can simulate all sorts of really clever stuff to figure out, you know, what's happened in problems in Network before they actually impact our customers.
Angela Love:
You're not operating blind, you know.
Iain Divers:
Absolutely. And we've always and then in many cases it's in historical precedent across all companies as being the reactive, you know, when not in all cases but and some as well. And but being able to get into this mode where you're actually seeing the power. And it comes back to a point I mentioned did a phrase of enablement I mentioned earlier that's like, what else can you do with it? to Graham’s point about the app saying is like, what else can you do with this stuff? And to bring Angela's point that we were sitting in a while ago with, one of our stakeholders in Liverpool City Region. We've talked to you can we can model out and forecast to these hotspots in the network and he actually said to me Well I'm also interested in is the cold spots. So where is demand not emerging.
And what does that tell me. As I think about actually my region, so you know the citizens of feel we have to manage as well. So, it's really, that's looking at again what can you do with it. Right. So that's the stuff that I think is really exciting, brings us new opportunities that we've never had before on the distribution network.
Caroline Blair:
Huge potential untapped, unquantifiable. At this point, potential, and a very exciting time, as you've all outlined. To finish up. Then we'd like to close our Powering Conversation podcasts with this question.
Imagine that you've reached, we've reached net zero. How do you feel?
Iain Divers:
I think for me two things I think could feel a great sense of satisfaction.
Most of my working life has been committed to and working in, collaborating with, with the people around the table here and more. On the solutions for you decarbonise, the decentralised, a smarter and more flexible and more consumer centric grids. So be very satisfied. But even more that I'm not. I suppose I'm slightly influenced by Scandinavian mindset. You know that an idea of peace, you know, one with nature. You know, I think there will be a sense of peace because we will be, you know, if you imagine, House where, you know, is producing some of its own energy, it's secure against the next bad thing that's going to happen, whether that's a storm or a breakdown of some form, because it's got its own battery.
You know, the car is moving silently without pollution. You know, it's almost our picture of being, bathing in a forest of calmness and peace and at one with nature. I think that's a very exciting thing, where the world does seem a worrying and frantic place. But to get the energy system to the point is providing people's needs in a very symbiotic, neutral, calm, nature aligned way, I think that would be absolutely brilliant.
Caroline Blair:
You have painted a very, very beautiful picture there. Angela, I'll allow you to try and pick up that baton.
Angela Love:
For me similarly that, you know, a sense of satisfaction that we get there, that is a sustainable network from a security of supply perspective. We are self-sufficient, you know, that we've delivered net zero. And, you know, but using our own resources are not necessarily the mercy of global markets that it should be more sustainable and that should be more affordable, hopefully. And then hopefully we can then be protecting people that can't afford the bills at the moment, and that the bills actually come down a bit back when for me.
Caroline Blair:
And the final words to you then, Iain.
Iain Divers:
Yeah, I guess satisfaction and relief, I guess also probably a sense of like what's next? I guess it's you know, to pick up and then both points as well. You know, this is a fundamental come back to even the first question you asked is that part of our purpose now is actually to enable is and something we definitely strive for in, in the something that was central part of what we do as an organization just now.
But yeah, I think from managing to get to that figure, that position would be an incredible feat, I think is where we're all kind of pushing in that direction and adopting all sorts. I think from there it's what comes next.
Caroline Blair:
Thoroughly enjoy the idea that after that you're looking for your next challenge there Iain.
Iain Divers:
It’s also there's, you know, just time Net Zero in time with my retirement date, apparently according to my pension letter.
Caroline Blair:
So perhaps it might be lowering your golf handicap at that point will indeed be the next challenge?
Thank you all very much for coming on today to Angela Love, to Graham Ault and to Iain Divers as well for contributing to what has been another engaging and insightful episode of Powering Conversations.
We hope you have enjoyed our deep dive into the evolution of the electricity network. And for more details about SP Energy Networks, of course you can visit wwwspenergynetworks.co.uk, and don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts to keep up to date with our latest episodes. For now, until next time.