The completion of a five-year, £10 million project by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has been marked by two events at Westminster.
SSEN's Solent Achieving Value from Efficiency (SAVE), funded through Ofgem, sought to establish to what extent energy efficiency measures can be considered as a cost effective, predictable and sustainable tool for managing peak demand as an alternative to network reinforcement.
With the project now concluded, SSEN set out the two events - held over the course of one day - to detail how SAVE's four different interventions with the 8,000 Solent customers involved in the SAVE project impacted energy efficiency, education, monetary incentives and community engagement.
By fusing smart technologies, with customer interaction, SSEN has developed a model for investment that minimises electricity costs for customers and provides network solutions that maximise social benefits, including those to the fuel poor and vulnerable and reduces carbon emissions, the learnings from which were presented during the morning event.
The afternoon session of the closedown event was sponsored by Labour Shadow Energy Minister, Dr Alan Whitehead with panel session guests from organisations including BEIS, Ofgem, Energy Saving Trust, the ENA and NEA. The session provided a more in-depth, strategic overview of how the SAVE project findings feed into the bigger picture of DSO, UK energy markets and carbon reduction, while enabling attendees to question the panel on their findings and plans for how SAVE will influence future decisions in energy efficiency and flexibility.
Charlie Edwards, SSEN's SAVE Project Manager said: "Our events at Westminster have enabled SSEN to talk about the work, findings and future learning that can be utilised across the energy system that serves our households, businesses and communities."
"Our supply systems are changing and at SSEN, we have made a commitment to 'learning by doing'; the SAVE project has helped us build on our understanding of that transition and how we can make that work for all of our customers."
"I'd like to thank everyone involved in this key project and all of those who attended our SAVE closedown events to see how we are helping shape our future energy systems."
Residents of Shirley Warren, who participated in the project, attended the events and spoke about their experience as a community. Jenny Elliott, the Chair of Shirley Warren Working Together explains more: "Being part of the SAVE project has been life transforming for our community and for individuals."
"The SAVE team engaged with the issues close to our hearts and that enabled the wider community to have a voice and take action together. Not only is the community coming together to do things like litter picking and improving our community, but we are also actively engaging in using energy differently."
"For example instead of a family of six watching television or being on their mobile devices in three or four rooms, some families now sit and eat together in a way that did not happen before the SAVE project."
To find out more about SAVE, please go to www.save-project.co.uk