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NIMBUS, a partnership with SSEN Transmission, SSEN Distribution and Icebreaker One is an ambitious project with the potential to accelerate the transition to net zero by prolonging the life of assets, improving their reliability and management through the introduction of new, granular data sources and improvements to network asset design, investment and operations.

Thorough analysis of sector needs for improved network asset methodologies for the design, maintenance and decision-making of electricity assets, NIMBUS has developed a business-driven use case to be demonstrated in Alpha, delivered the objectives of our Discovery proposal and met the SIF Innovation challenge aims.

Icebreaker One has undertaken an analysis of sector and user needs for improved asset risk methodologies for the design, maintenance and decision-making of electricity network assets to develop a business-driven use case to be demonstrated in the Alpha, next phase of NIMBUS. 

Weather conditions are known to accelerate the wear-and-tear on assets but little research has been done to understand how this can be quantified. The primary use case seeks to explore and quantify this by using data about the weather experienced by the asset with the asset’s service history to identify key weather factors that should be considered in Probability of Failure calculations within the industry-adopted methodologies. 

Key benefits include:

• Economic: The business-driven use case developed in NIMBUS discovery will reduce the costs of penalty due to network downtime, improve grid connectivity and avoid high-risk/urgent repair operations for the Transmission Network Operators and Distribution Network Operators subject to regulatory requirements of keeping the network running and delivering power to the end customer. The ability to forecast asset degradation more accurately enables a risk-based approach to condition assessment that has the potential to reduce assessment frequency (and therefore cost of assessment) for low-risk assets.
• Resilience: The use case will enable better asset resilience by improving the accuracy of grid-wide risk scoring within the asset risk models and methodologies used within the UK energy systems.
• Environmental: NIMBUS is designed to be an ambitious project with the potential to accelerate the transition to net zero by prolonging the life of assets by understanding their degradation better, improving their reliability and management through the introduction of new, granular data sources and consequently improving  network asset design, investment and operations. 

NIMBUS has far-reaching impacts and applicability across the sector with its intentionally narrow scope to ensure achievability. The principles, methodologies, and tools developed and tested will produce guidelines for how the sector can reuse this analysis and enable these processes and analyses to be retooled for different assets.

Throughout the 8-week long project, we co-developed and researched a priority use case, identified relevant stakeholders, key datasets, and began to understand the challenges stakeholders face in sharing data for the chosen use case. At the end of the project, we brought together key stakeholders in a one-day innovation workshop to highlight innovations and ways to solve the challenges identified in research.

The use case co-developed through this project faces the challenge that more than 30% of households in the UK cannot install at-home EV chargepoints. This highlights the importance of affordable, public, and nearby on-street charging which requires local authorities to deliver this infrastructure in a timely, efficient, equitable and cost-effective way. 

The innovation workshop was held online to ensure representation from across the United Kingdom, and had representatives from local authorities, chargepoint operators, distribution network operators, and stakeholders specialising in the electric vehicle sector. The workshop split into five different sessions, each exploring those stakeholders’ different points of view, potential challenges, and solutions for the use case. Each session had a briefing session delving into the research for each stakeholder, then a group breakout discussion to discuss challenges and solutions in a smaller group setting. 

Toward the end of the day, there was a voting process to prioritise all of the proposed solutions so far, the top 8 solutions included:

1. Local authorities and the UK government need to target financial aid at lower revenue regions to allow equity in on-street charging access across the UK. 
2. Local authorities need to incorporate strategic planning, such as multimodal planning and identifying on-street chargepoints in locations at the intersection of different transportation modes (trains, buses, taxis, car shares).
3. Hold forums at the local and national level to promote collaboration and to allow for currently siloed stakeholders to convene to share and understand best practices.
4. Promote proactive engagement between chargepoint operators, suppliers, distribution network operators, and local authorities. Such as having a model to which stakeholders can feed in desired chargepoint locations, constraints and capacities to allow stakeholders to check relevance then contact the appropriate stakeholders for tenders and contracts. 
5. Develop a policy and strategy template kit to assist local authorities to plan for and develop chargepoint plans to avoid reinventing the wheel, and allow best practices to be collated. 
6. Have one central place where distribution network operator data and other relevant electric vehicle data are available and accessible by all stakeholders. Often local authorities do not know the sources of data available, and one central place would make it easier. 
7. Upskill local authorities with the technical skills to make use of and translate data as needed when developing on-street chargepoint plans. 
8. The UK should require operators to be Open with their data to be easily accessible by local authorities. 

These proposed solutions are the culmination of the Icebreaking process, convening stakeholders to unpack a collaboratively agreed use case. This ensures the solutions are focussed on the real challenges stakeholders face in their work. By culminating in an innovation workshop, stakeholders are able to come together to collaborate and prioritise solutions to solve the challenge at hand. 

The research, insight, and solutions developed through the innovation workshop are now being incorporated into the future work of the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and the Department of Transportation. 

Head of the Department for Transport’s Office of Zero Emission Vehicles, Natasha Robinson, said: “Data is at the heart of achieving our vision for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and is central to policy decision-making at all levels of Government. 

“To support local authority planning and help EV drivers navigate the charging landscape, Government will be regulating later in 2022 to open public EV chargepoint data. Our technical work to open this data is already underway, and we look forward to working with Icebreaker One to ensure that the data needed by the energy sector is made available to help EV drivers plan their journey and charge with ease.”

If you want to get in touch, you can contact us at icebreaking@icebreakerone.org. 

The UK is investing £100M’s to revolutionise its energy infrastructure, to help us get to Net Zero and adapt to huge changes in energy supply (e.g. renewable energy) and demand (e.g. vehicles).  

Since 2020, Icebreaker One has operated and co-developed Open Energy with industry and government stakeholders . Open Energy’s mission is to make it easy for any organisation in the UK to search, access and securely share energy data. It provides the infrastructure for data sharing, including powerful Energy Search, financial-grade security, and (coming soon!) easy access control for commercial data. All these efforts are underpinned by our Trust Framework for data sharing. 

These services are designed in collaboration with industry Advisory Groups and a sector Steering Group, in which we define codes of practice for the programme and the sector.

Icebreaker One is looking to understand where our current members and network have interest in participating in Advisory Groups. 

Open Energy — Advisory Groups 

The Open Energy Advisory Groups convene and combine individual expertise to help understand how the UK may better modernise energy data access. They are overseen by the Open Energy Steering Group. 

There are a few possible Advisory Groups which could be formed to further develop Open Energy. If there is an Advisory Group you’d like to see in the future that isn’t reflected below, please also let us know via the form. 

Please register your interest in participating in the following groups to identify which should be formed.

The groups we are proposing are: 

Data Licensing Advisory Group

The aim of the Data Licensing Advisory group is to develop the standard licences that are required to allow Shared Data to flow through Open Energy Access Control, in alignment with the Data Sensitivity classes. This will include key policies, such as conditions for participation, roles and responsibilities. The outputs of this group will be the necessary licences and requirements for a functioning Access Control. 

We are seeking individuals with the following knowledge or experience: 

• Legal professionals, especially those with energy data and/or other data licensing expertise
• Energy data providers who are familiar with or wish to share their data under a shared data licence through Open Energy
• Data consumers, startups and innovators
• In-house data governance and compliance
• Information security, with a focus on data sharing 
• Digital and data transformation Data policy analysts
• Open data licensing, open source and content licensing – specifically to understand lessons that have been learnt in this area and, where applicable how they may apply to shared licensing

Metadata Standards Advisory Group

The aim of the Metadata Standards Advisory Group is to agree to the metadata standards for publishing data to Open Energy. Further to the Energy Data Visualisation Project (EDVP) recommendation to “continue the development and evolution of EDVP” this advisory group recognises the need for industry collaboration, co-design, and feedback of a metadata standard for publishing energy data. This advisory group will inform the development of Energy Search for organisations to search, publish, and share data through Open Energy. 

We are seeking individuals with the following knowledge or experience: 

• Energy data owners or providers
• Energy data consumers, including startups
• Data analysts, in particular those responsible for finding and utilising data within the energy or policy making sector
• Data and/or metadata publishing and maintenance
• Experience of managing data catalogues
• Data managers
• Experience and knowledge of open data
• Experience of CKAN
• Experience of standard systems, processes and technologies used in the energy industry
• Policy and compliance

We are considering piloting Open Energy Working Groups, as a chance to operationalise particular use cases which have come up in the development of Open Energy thus far. 

Energy Security and Resilience Working Group

The aim of the Energy Security and Resilience Working group is to proactively address this winter’s energy security in supply, demand and efficiency (reduction of consumption) domains. Although the recent British Energy Security Strategy sets out future policy direction and targets, many of these developments will not be addressed in time for this coming winter (2022-23) and may impact hitting our binding Net Zero targets.

Improve energy security in supply, demand and efficiency includes: accelerating the switch to a new energy mix; reducing energy use across the UK (domestic, public and commercial); smartly scheduling moveable demand where possible to reduce peaks; and ensuring economic stability while  the cost-of-living crisis. To achieve this, there needs to be a coordinated understanding of where energy is being used, where it can be reduced or shifted, and how this relates to network supply and distribution.  Current modelling, while advanced, does not have the right quantity, quality, diversity, granularity and time resolution to maximise the benefit for the whole system.  Industry, Government and consumers need better access to data and information to help reduce risk, increase efficiency and maximise resilience. 

We are seeking individuals from the following organisations, with the knowledge or experience of : 

• Energy generation, transmission and distribution
• Renewable energy
• Micro and community energy generation
• Cyber security
• Economics
• Public policy
• Geo-politics
• Consumer energy suppliers 
• Ofgem
• Consumer Advocacy
• Fuel poverty and associated vulnerabilities (e.g. health, disability, young families, older residents etc.)

Public Electric Vehicle Working Group

The aim of the Electric Vehicle Working Group is to operationalise the use case developed through the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles’ Icebreaking Process. The use case faces the challenge of more than 30% of households in the UK cannot install at-home EV chargepoints. This highlights the importance of affordable, public, and nearby on-street charging which requires local authorities to deliver this infrastructure in a timely, efficient, equitable and cost-effective way. This working group will be working to explore and operationalise how data can help the dilemmas that arise from the huge challenge of satisfying the coming demand for on-street charging.

We are seeking individuals from the following organisations, with the knowledge or experience of : 

• Chargepoint operators
• Chargepoint manufacturers
• Electricity transmission operators
• Consultancies who offer services in the EV space 
• Connections departments of DNOs
• Local Authority Energy and Electric Vehicle planners
• Transportation authorities

Fleet Electrification Working Group

The aim of this group will be to analyse the operational, technical, legal, licensing, and policy considerations for commercial vehicle electrification. This group will comprise a collective of people from organisations to whom the EV use case applies and who are focused on operationalising/showing the end-to-end delivery of it.

We are seeking individuals from the following organisations, with the knowledge or experience of : 

• Fleet and industrial vehicle operators/business owners
• Chargepoint operators
• Chargepoint manufacturers
• Electricity transmission operators
• Consultancies who offer services in the EV space 
• Connections departments of DNOs
• Local Authority Energy and Electric Vehicle planners
• Transportation authorities

Residential Heat Working Group

The aim of the Heat Working Group is to operationalise the Future of Heating use case developed through the August 2021-February 2022 Pilot Phase of Open Energy. The use case focuses on a new residential housing developer who will no longer be able to install gas-based solutions, but needs to be able to properly equip properties for heating needs without placing unsustainable demands on the grid while still being in line with regulatory requirements. This working group analyses the operational, technical, legal, licensing, and policy considerations when accessing the data required to analyse the optimal combination of up-front costs and reduction in grid connections.

We are seeking individuals from the following organisations, with the knowledge or experience of : 

• Residential property developers, responsible for making decisions about low-carbon heating installations in new developments
• DNOs, responsible for determining grid headroom and capacity for new developments
• Low carbon heating manufacturers and service providers, particularly those producing smart components and/or using data to drive product and service development
• Mechanical and electrical engineers, responsible for decision-making of low-carbon heating installations and their operation
• Local authorities – for example, those in planning departments responsible for implementing local policies 
• Architects and other consultants, responsible for decision-making of low-carbon heating installations 
• Citizens Advice, representing consumers
• Insurance companies, specifically individuals who require further information around the cover offered in the eventuality of complex incidents such as flooding and storm damage to assets that might be installed as a consequence of reducing grid connection requirements.

Have we missed something? Let us know via the form.

Join Us

Please register your interest in participating in the groups to identify which should be formed.

If you’d like to be a part of the Open Energy community, where you can get regular updates and review our most current documentation for Open Energy, please sign up to our newsletter. Please get in touch with us at openenergy@icebreakerone.org if you have any questions.

To enable this, OZEV needs to understand the data requirements and current data challenges. These include data sharing between Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), local authorities and chargepoint operators. 

Icebreaker One held a workshop on March 28th with stakeholders from OZEV, Department of Transport, chargepoint operators, distribution network operators and local authorities to discuss and collaboratively agree on a priority use case topic to understand the datasets, challenges, and barriers stakeholders face in sharing EV data. 

The priority use case topic agreed following discussion and voting by workshop participants is: 

Local authorities want to be able to better plan on-street charging for those with no access to at-home chargepoints. 

The options we considered

Prior to the meeting, the IB1 research team drafted a long-list of over 40 use cases through a literature review of existing reports and news relating to the EV infrastructure, and interviews with key stakeholders. Then, those use cases were narrowed down to 16, then to a top 4 use case shortlist  through internal input and a vote by key representatives from OZEV. In the workshop, participants had a chance to read, understand and discuss the top 4 finalist use cases:

1. Chargepoint operators want to identify the optimal locations for chargepoint installations
2. Local authorities want to identify gaps in chargepoint infrastructure that is or will be served by commercial operators 
3. Chargepoint manufacturers want to better understand network flexibility requirements/need for demand management so they can build functionality into their products
4. Local authorities want to be able to better plan on-street charging for those with no access to at-home chargepoints

After discussing the use cases, participants had a chance to vote for the use case to take forward to better understand the datasets, challenges and barriers stakeholders face in sharing EV data. 

About this use case

The use case that received the most votes was option 4, looking at how to use data to enable local authorities to better plan on-street EV charging for those with no access to at-home chargepoints.  

This use case tackles the challenge of 30% households in the UK having no access to off-street parking. This use case could map the spatial distribution of these households and assess options for installation of on-street/alternative charging options (e.g. via lamp-posts, charging bollards etc, as well as destination charging, charging hubs, potentially workplace charging) and includes the distribution of private/shared infrastructure and smart charging options. 

This use case supports findings from a recent CMA consultation which found EV drivers could save around £100 per year if they had access to on-street (preferably smart) charging instead of using rapid charging via public chargepoints. Furthermore, using slower and smart charging options increases battery life, reducing EV churn and battery waste. This may have additional secondary benefits by increasing the reliability and longevity of the second-hand EV market due to improved battery life and charge retention (particularly in the absence of national standards for car dealers to assess and publicise this during sales).

Getting involved

The next step in this project will be to further flesh out this use case and build a fuller understanding of the stakeholders, potential datasets, benefits of enabling the use case, barriers to implementation, and challenges of interoperability for the use case. 

This will be done through further desk research and stakeholder interviews, if you think you may have information relating to this use case, please contact us at openenergy@icebreakerone.org. 

The two groups are composed of a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts, representing a cross section of private and public players with a unique contribution. The Advisory Groups play a critical role in Open Energy’s development, providing us with a 360 perspective that ensures that Open Energy is designed for and with the energy sector. 

Here’s a summary of everything achieved and discussed in the February meetings.

Membership & Delivery

The group discussed:

• The recent Energy Digitalisation Task Force report recommendations
• An update on how Open Energy is progressing
• Shared the published Pilot Use Case 1 blog – (Use Case 1 is how the energy industry can ensure DNOs have the data they need to support a network that’s able to meet EV user needs)
• An update on how Use Case 2 is developing (Use Case 2 is how new residential housing developers can reduce grid reliance when building new housing developments) 
• Presented an ecosystem diagram for the MEDA core use case and how this could apply to future use cases
• An update on the membership terms and website terms and conditions
• A review of Open Energy’s DPIA, record of processing, and privacy notice
• Review of IB1’s shortlist of priority organisation to approach for becoming new members 

User Needs

The group discussed:

• The recent Energy Digitalisation Task Force report recommendations and what we should prioritise for the next stages of development
• An update on how Open Energy is progressing
• Presented an ecosystem diagram for the MEDA core use case and how this could apply to future use cases
• The final version of the Use Case 1 blog publication
• The challenges with developing the final use case of the pilot phase, as described in this blog post
• An update from our tech team on how they are building on previous work to build a set of Jupyter notebooks to introduce data analysts to OE through enabling them to get hands-on experience with it. 

Steering Group

In this session, the Steering Group discussed

• Reflections from the pilot phase and what we have learned throughout last six months, and where to go from here
• What is coming next for Open Energy, and how it will continue to develop
• How open energy can deliver the Energy Digitalisation Task Force recommendations 
• An update on the final use case development 
• The achievements and progress for the Membership & Delivery Advisory Group
• The achievements and progress for the User Needs Advisory Group

If you’d like to sign up to be a part of the community review track, click here or email openenergy@icebreakerone.org. 

The two groups are composed of a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts, representing a cross section of private and public players with a unique contribution. The Advisory Groups play a critical role in Open Energy’s development, providing us with a 360 perspective that ensures that Open Energy is designed for and with the energy sector. 

Here’s a summary of everything achieved and discussed in the January meetings.

Membership & Delivery

The group discussed:

• Potential barriers stakeholder face when deciding to sign up to become a member of Open Energy
• An update on how Open Energy is progressing
• The communications effort focussed around winning support for Open Energy with key stakeholders including DNOs, government, SMEs and innovators and how these messages can be improved to be more persuasive
• Progress on the use case prioritisation process occurring in the User Needs Advisory Group
• An update on the membership contracting and website terms and conditions
• A review of Open Energy’s DPIA, record of processing, and privacy notice
• What the Open Energy tech team has been doing, including: operational monitoring, data set entry, adding OE Search and discovery to analyst’s tools, and analyst user journeys being prototyped in Jupyter Notebook

Still under discussion: 

• What other tools should we be looking at for Open Energy integration?
• We are looking for Open Energy customers to help us shape the product proposition and user experience ideally with people in these roles) CTO, DNO Developer, Startup Developer, and Consultant. If you are interested, please email us at openenergy@icebreakerone.org.

User Needs

The group discussed:

• How to make the user needs and use case prioritisation process repeatable with further use cases and maintain stakeholder engagement
• An update on how Open Energy is progressing
• Prioritising the two potential use cases to explore next, including:
  • a flexibility asset builder would like to know where to build assets and of what type to ensure a return on investment and 
  • a mechanical and electrical contractor wants to know how to reduce grid reliance and grid connection requirements for new housing developments. 
• An update on the progressing electric vehicle (EV) use case 
• The communications effort focussed around winning support for Open Energy with key stakeholders including DNOs, government, SMEs and innovators and how these messages can be improved to be more persuasive

Still under discussion: 

• Feedback on the two presented use cases to take forward 
• Any final feedback on the EV use case ahead of official documentation 

Steering Group

In this session, the Steering Group discussed

• Reflections from 2021 on what we have learned throughout the last year of Open Energy
• Challenges we are facing on aspects which are lacking, barriers to success, and how to overcome them
• The road forward for market engagement
• Refining messaging for with our communications team
• The achievements and progress for the Membership & Delivery Advisory Group
• The achievements and progress for the User Needs Advisory Group

Advisory and Steering Group membership applications have closed, if you’d like to sign up to be a part of the community review track, click here or email openenergy@icebreakerone.org. 

The Advisory Groups are composed of a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts, representing a cross section of private and public players with a unique contribution. The Advisory Groups and Steering Group play a critical role in Open Energy’s development, providing us with a valuable perspective which ensures Open Energy is designed for and with the energy sector. 

Here’s a summary of everything achieved and discussed in the December meetings.

Membership & Delivery

The group discussed:

• How to ensure Open Energy is continues to be front of mind for the energy sector
• Presented the proposed data access specifications in order to ensure the security of Access Control
• Presented the user-centered product design research process, and the customer journey / experience map based upon a potential member role
• The proposed Open Energy onboarding flows – the “checklist” of what a member would need to do to join Open Energy based upon the member role

Still under discussion: 

• Data access specification refinement
• Data onboarding flow documentation

User Needs

The group discussed:

• The Advisory Group members’ thoughts on recent electric vehicle legislation
• The process Open Energy has followed so far in the development of a use case, and the planned next steps
• The preliminary proposed Flex use case case, and a discussion around the outstanding questions which remain
• The detailed electric vehicle use case, and a discussion on the necessary data, opportunities and benefits of the use case, and outreach to who we should contact to further build it out

Still under discussion: 

• Further work on the electric vehicle use case
• Developing a specific Flex or gas transition use case based upon the Advisory Group’s feedback and further research

Steering Group

In this session, the Steering Group discussed

• Achievements & progress for the Membership & Delivery AG
• Achievements and progress for the User Needs AG
• The proposed electric vehicle use case and provided their guidance and feedback
• The user-centered product design and customer journey work

Advisory and Steering Group membership applications have closed, if you’d like to sign up to be a part of the community review track, click here or email openenergy@icebreakerone.org. 

The two groups will meet monthly and include a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts, representing a cross section of private and public players with a unique contribution. The Advisory Groups play a critical role in Open Energy’s development, providing us with a 360 perspective that ensures that Open Energy is designed for and with the energy sector. 

Here’s a summary of everything achieved and discussed in the October meetings.

Membership & Delivery

The group discussed:

• An update on what happened in the Open Energy Modernising Energy Data Access Phase 3 Advisory Groups
• The roadmap for the pilot phase of Open Energy to discuss the project goals and future timelines
• Received a demo of https://openenergy.org.uk/ 
• What the first draft of the membership terms and contract looks like, and provided members the document to review and comment
• The elements proposed to be in the Open Energy Pilot Membership 
• Presented the metadata creation and curation policy for Energy Search, and provided members the document to review and comment

Still under discussion: 

• Membership contract – under review
• Metadata Creation and Curation Policy – under review

User Needs

The group discussed:

• An update on what happened in the Open Energy MEDA Phase 3 Advisory Groups
• The roadmap for the pilot phase of Open Energy to discuss the project goals and future timelines
• The criteria for what a successful use case looks like, and what challenges they should address
• The biggest problems participants face to achieve net zero in their organisation where better data sharing would make a difference
• Past use cases which have come up throughout the past phases, and began to prioritise the ones of highest priority

Still under discussion: 

• Which use cases should be prioritised for Open Energy to support 

Steering Group

The first Steering Group was split into two sections: Orientation, and Detail. The first half covered a summary of what Open Energy was trying to achieve, and the second delved into more in-depth discussions.

The Advisory Group co-chairs informed the Steering Group of what had been summaries, discussed and agreed in the first Advisory Group meetings, and posed questions to seek their guidance.

In this session, the Steering Group discussed

1. Alignment on a common statement of goals 
2. The proposed Open Energy Pilot Membership
3. Highest value use cases for Open Energy 

If you’d like to sign up to be a part of the Advisory Groups, click here.