University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

History of electricity network control and distributed generation in the UK and western Denmark

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 08:39 authored by Markku Lehtonen, Sheridan Nye
Achieving the ambitious targets for renewable electricity generation in Europe will require harnessing a diverse range of energy sources, many of which are decentralised, small scale, and will be connected directly to the distribution networks. To control the two-way flows of electricity, the current passive network configurations will need to be replaced by active network management. This will require, in particular, innovations in intelligent IT-based network control. This paper draws on research on Large Technical Systems (LTS) and control systems in other sectors to analyse the evolution of electricity network control in western Denmark and the UK, since the Second World War. It concludes that lack of progress in network control has only recentlylargely because of the combined needs to provide greater reliability and green electricity within liberalised marketsemerged as a reverse salient that will prevent the further development of the LTS of electricity supply industry towards desired direction. Breaking the inertia in the LTS and its control systems will require determined government action to promote learning and collaborative search for solutions. The UK might well draw lessons from the Danish pragmatism in fostering innovation through targeted support to collaborative R&D efforts towards sustainability objectives.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Energy Policy

ISSN

0301-4215

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

6

Volume

37

Page range

2338-2345

Pages

6.0

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC