INDUSTRY NEWS RESEARCH PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE BENEFITS OF SMART METERS


Loughborough University has just completed a key part of a £4m project funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) called the Smart Meter Enabled Thermal Efficiency Ratings (SMETER) Innovation Programme. The £1.1m scheme, carried out in partnership with


Halton Housing, Leeds Beckett University and UCL, tested and developed eight different meters that measure thermal performance in 30 homes (two-storey houses and single-storey bungalows) built between around 1927 and 1990. Smart meters were installed in every home to measure gas and electricity demand, and temperature and relative humidity sensors were installed in five to eight rooms of each home. Researchers found that the concept of


using smart meter data to measure thermal performance is effective. SMETERs could play a role, not only in the energy rating of homes, but also in quantifying the improvement to energy


efficiency following refurbishment and identifying under-performance of new homes. Loughborough led the evaluation phase which was


aimed at measuring the Heat Transfer coefficient (HTC) in a blind trial against HTC as measured using a gold standard physical method (co-heating test). Dr David Allinson of the Building Energy Research


Group (BERG) in Loughborough’s School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, said: “The SMETER Programme has demonstrated that we can measure the performance of our homes in a relatively inexpensive and non-intrusive way using smart meter data. “National implementation of in-use


performance metrics for buildings would be a world-first and could help ensure that we all live in better performing homes that really do save energy, are less expensive to heat, and do reduce our harmful carbon emissions.” Following the success of this work, BEIS has


INCREASING THE SAFETY AND RELIABILITY OF SUSTAINABLE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SOURCES


Deep geothermal energy company, HITA, has selected Emerson as a key technology provider in the discovery and development of geothermal energy sources in Northern Belgium. Emerson’s geological and reservoir modelling software will help reduce risk in selecting locations for renewable geothermal energy projects, increasing the safety and reliability of construction and operation while enabling sustainable energy production from the earth’s heat. Climate change policies are driving growth of geothermal energy.


Emerson’s geological modelling software will help HITA locate the most suitable subsurfaces for drilling deep geothermal wells to unlock sustainable energy sources for corporate and municipal use. “A highly accurate and realistic picture of subsurface geology is critical for the


safe development of sustainable energy sources,” said Stijn Bos, chief operating officer and senior project geologist at HITA. “Emerson technologies use seismic, geologic and other data to generate detailed models that can determine the best location for geothermal plants.”


COMMENT


even further by recent tragic events in Europe. However, according to the Green Living Index from


W


Wunderflats, the UK is among the worst in Europe when it comes to green living. In fact British households consume 182kWh/m² of energy compared to just 70kWh/m² in Portugal, which topped the poll.


There are a number of reasons for this, including: Just 15% of UK housing


stock are flats, which are more energy-efficient to heat and power; the average British household is made up of just two people, which is less energy-efficient compared to larger household sizes; UK homes are among the oldest and leakiest in Western Europe; just 12% of the UK’s household energy consumption is powered by renewable sources; and only 8% of the energy used for heating and cooling is from renewable energy. More therefore needs to be done to cope with the energy crisis.


Within the pages of Energy Management, and on our website at www.energymanagementmag.co.uk, we aim to provide useful information to help you become more energy efficient and reduce energy consumption and costs - whether that’s in the home, in the office, in the production facility, or on the roads.


Rachael Morling - Editor


elcome to the Spring issue of Energy Management. As we are all aware, energy prices are rocketing at the moment, fuelled


commissioned AECOM and Loughborough University to support a new SMETER Business Process Design project, phase 1 of which is now underway. The goal of this project is to develop analysis which enables BEIS and DLUHC to reach conclusions on the feasibility, approach, and business case for developing arrangements for the national implementation of in-use performance metrics in support of Net Zero housing and heating. www.lboro.ac.uk


ABB SOLUTION ENSURES GRID STABILITY ON THE FAROE ISLANDS


SEV, the main electrical power producer and distributor for the Faroe Islands, has an ambitious goal to become the world’s greenest group of islands. By 2030, it will be generating 100% green electricity from hydropower, solar and wind, and potentially tidal streams.


ABB is working with SEV to deliver innovative Synchronous Condenser (SC)


technology that will stabilise its power grid as renewable generation replaces fossil-fueled plant. The first SC unit is currently being commissioned on the island of Suðuroy; and SEV has now placed an order for a similar unit to be located at Sund on Streymoy, the Faroes’ largest and most populous island. Switching off the existing diesel-fueled generating plant could impact the


www.emerson.com/skua-gocad


stability of SEV’s grid. This is because the rotating equipment provides vital ‘spinning inertia’ that keeps the system in balance. A particular challenge is that there are no power cables connecting the Faroe Islands to neighbouring countries so its grid is unable to use external support To tackle this challenge, ABB is working with SEV to deliver innovative


technology in the form of synchronous condensers. An SC is a rotating electrical machine that provides vital services to strengthen a power system and keep it stable as both loads and renewable energy production change. These services include inertia, fault level and reactive power for voltage regulation. www.abb.com


SCHOOL ENERGY SAVING CHALLENGE


Powercor, an expert organisation in the field of sustainable energy usage, has partnered with Surrey-based STEM charity SATRO for the 2022 SATRO Energy Saving Challenge – an opportunity to put students at the heart of their school’s sustainability thinking and to see how they can reduce carbon emissions. 12 primary schools based in the South East are taking part in the programme. The six-month challenge encourages school children to develop and


implement ideas that reduce electricity usage in their schools. The ideas will be judged and the winning school announced at a ceremony in June 2022. Central to the Energy Saving Challenge are Powercor’s automated metering


and targeting (AM&T) units that will be installed free of charge at each school. The units deliver the capability to monitor energy use, and produce data charts and graphs that the children can review. As each energy-saving strategy is implemented, students can see how this affects the energy usage in their school. www.powercor.co.uk


4 ENERGY MANAGEMENT - Spring 2022 www.energymanagementmag.co.uk


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