Westminster Infrastructure Plan: Technical Assessment (2009) WCC

Westminster Infrastructure Plan: Technical Assessment 2006– 2026Final ReportThe electricity demand for the whole of the LPN zone (in effect most of Greater London),identified by EDF during September 2008, was 5,100MW supplying 2.25M customers viasome 35,000km of underground cabling. The impact of the growth over and above thatalready planned is significant and therefore the delivery timescales need to ensure thatEDF engage early in the planning process although more defined development areasmay well be required in order to establish appropriate and specific design.The design of the EDF network is unique in the UK as it recognises the importance of theneed to maintain uninterruptible supplies, probably to a higher degree than that of moreprovincial areas, by employing a configuration that mitigates against faults that result in„customer minutes lost‟ (one of the KPI measurements utilised by OFGEM). In essence,faults do occur but they do not necessarily mean that electricity is disconnected.3.1.2. Forecast DemandThe network is ageing 20 and at the same time must respond to requirements associatedwith new development.Per capita consumption of electricity may increase in future years, implying that even ifthere were no new developments at all, the demand for energy would still increase - forexample, due to the increasing aspirations of individuals and more materialistic outcomes(televisions in more than one room being a good example). Of course, Government aimsto increase energy efficiency and encourage lower per capita energy usage, and this maybe achieved through the Code for Sustainable Homes and other regulatory initiatives.However, there is as yet no quantifiable evidence of success and so a pragmatic,cautionary approach appears sensible at this time (this is reflected in the URS model ofdemand).It is also not yet clear how much energy might in future be supplied by renewable or lowcarbon sources. Though there are significant policy drivers, the electricity network in theUK has not generally been built to accommodate generation at this level and there aretechnical issues with connecting or, indeed, feeding energy back into the grid.Combined heat and power (CHP) systems can generate electricity with relative efficiency;however, where they have been successfully established they generally run on „privatewire‟ type grids, though large CHPs have grid synchronised systems. The regulatorysystem and competition rules are also complex, often negating or limiting the widerGovernment policy aspirations (see Section 3.3 on Low Carbon Energy for furtherdetails).Micro-generation is subject to feed-in tariff incentives whilst CHP operates on aRenewables Obligations Certificates system (ROCs) that is designed to encourageinvestment.20 The Electricity, Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 specify safety standards to protect the generalpublic and consumer from danger. In addition, the regulations specify power quality and supply continuityrequirements to ensure efficient and economic electricity supply service to consumers.November 2009 Page 38