A free new instrument has been launched for native authorities to assist them rapidly establish potential places for inexperienced vitality tasks.
Throughout London, the East and South East, 80% of native authorities have declared a local weather emergency and most are creating vitality plans. UK Energy Networks, which distributes electrical energy in these areas, has mixed 18 datasets in a single place to assist information native authorities to find future websites for community-owned wind and photo voltaic farms.
The brand new *IRENES instrument at ukpowernetworks.opendatasoft.com combines spatial and land use datasets for ground-based photo voltaic PV and onshore wind, over 18,000 sq. kilometres. It additionally apparently takes into consideration bodily traits akin to Areas of Excellent Pure Magnificence and photo voltaic irradiance, information together with the prevailing native electrical energy community.
Knowledge can simply be filtered, and layered with different helpful Internet Zero datasets in UK Energy Networks’ Open Knowledge Portal, to view the vitality capability at present accessible. Customers can generate an easy-to-understand map, with site visitors mild color coding displaying places for brand new tasks.
This collaborative undertaking is led by Anglia Ruskin College and College of East Anglia, and supported by UK Energy Networks’ Distribution System Operator (DSO) and the Higher South East Internet Zero Hub. It lives as much as the ‘Vitality Knowledge Taskforce: A Technique for a Fashionable Digitalised Vitality System’ report commissioned by Authorities, Ofgem, and Innovate UK which units out 5 key suggestions to modernise the UK vitality system and drive it in the direction of a Internet Zero future.
UK Energy Networks’ funding rapidly helped scale the unique scope from 5 county councils, to 133 native authorities serving 5.6 million residents inside simply six months.
Lynne McDonald, head of Native Internet Zero at UK Energy Networks’ Distribution System Operator mentioned: “This partnership showcases our DSO’s collaboration throughout sectors to assist native authorities in simply accessing important information for his or her decarbonisation plans.
“It’s been a unbelievable alternative to trade data with our colleagues in vitality, information and academia. We encourage native authorities to take advantage of this new instrument, form our community investments and drive sustainable change collectively – empowered by information and digital instruments for efficient, place-based decision-making.”
Peter Gudde, Internet Zero programme lead at Higher South East Internet Zero Hub mentioned: “The Higher South East Internet Zero Hub has been supporting the event of the IRENES Land Use Device to allow regionally developed renewable vitality era. We’re happy to see collaboration between two of the South East area’s main universities and UK Energy Networks Distribution System Operator in assist of the general public sector and their space commitments to facilitate Internet Zero. We glance ahead constructing upon that cross-sector working relationship.”
*IRENES stands for Integrating RENewable vitality and Ecosystem Providers in environmental and vitality insurance policies
