by Andrew Roper
DSO Director
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks
One short week, but with a wealth of valuable conversations and insights.
The dates in the diary when we open our DSO doors to our customers, our partners in the industry and our stakeholders are always illuminating, and this year’s Spring Series was no exception.
As I stood in amongst our guests, chatting to faces old and new at the Breakfast event we held to kick off proceedings at our Reading offices, I was struck by the energy around me.
In that room, I could really feel how our shared conversation had tracked to the centre of the wider energy system debate, and how the nature of our discussions had evolved. As all of us gain more lived experience in the DSO space, the practical learnings and insights that knowledge brings forth bubble up in discussions, to the benefit of us all.
"Of course, at the heart of everything remains our ambition to drive the work to ensure decarbonisation helps deliver sustainable economic growth that helps as many people, companies, and communities as possible."
Delivering the smart and fair energy system that will in turn realise this goal is vital – and it’s also a complex challenge. And there’s a balance at the heart of this task. Flexibility is rightly being increasingly seen as having a long-term role, whether it’s in meeting growing demand for clean power, in expanding market participation, or in the hugely important area of helping control energy costs for consumers. This was reflected in the growing interest those who came to Spring Series events expressed in how flexibility markets are continuing to develop, and their keenness to learn more about how we plan to improve transparency and access to our data.
Capital investment to build out networks also has a major role in our shared decarbonisation journey, and this will be done with consideration for the environment and the bottom line, and with the benefit of the insights gained from our Strategic Planning processes.
"While SSEN Distribution is packed full of specialists who’re well-placed to deliver this generational shift in our energy system, we can’t do it without you. This is much-too-complex a task to work on in isolation. And that’s why your insights and experiences are so important in shaping what we do, and how and when we do it."
With the preparation of our ED3 business plan at a critical stage, these contributions were even more relevant at this year’s Spring Series. With the events we staged, we wanted to ensure there was the time and space to eke out the constructive challenges, the deeper conversations and the kind of detailed feedback that really helps to move ideas forward.
We were grateful for the useful insights from those navigating connections, and the thoughts shared on the growing role of distributed energy resources on the network. And the ongoing conversation about how data can better support these processes and enable more-informed decision-making also continued to develop during the sessions.
Looking ahead, planning is already underway for our forthcoming events.
"We’ll continue to build on the feedback on what’s gone before to inform what we do next, and we promise we’ll do all we can to keep things relevant, and focused on what you want from your discussions with us."
In the meantime, if you joined us, shared your views, and helped make this year’s Spring Series the success it was, then my team and I owe you a debt of gratitude. You make a real difference to what we do, and we’re always keen to hear from you. So even if you didn’t make it to one of our events, but want to share thoughts or ideas, then please drop me a line.
I look forward to hearing from you!