It includes:

1. What did we set out to achieve?
2. Demo
3. Use cases: how we got there and who was involved?
4. Policy & governance: what we did and why was it important?
5. What were the outcomes and how are we evolving the service?
6. What can you do to get involved? 

For more information, and to join, please see https://openenergy.org.uk

What:

As our energy system transitions to net zero, Distribution Network Operators are in a period of major change. Digitalisation and data management, net-zero strategies, and performance against price controls are all competing for space on a packed agenda for DNO leaders.

This event brings together experts to analyse a fast-moving regulatory environment, look at how DNOs are responding, and how Open Energy can help.

Speakers

• Gea Mikic, Programme Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Sara Vaughan, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Elexon
• Charlotte Hillenbrand, Product Strategist, Icebreaker One
• Liam Bennett, Senior Manager – Data Policy and Regulation, Ofgem

If you think a colleague or sector expert would be interested in joining this event, please share it with them.

Open Energy has been supported in-part with UK Government funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and BEIS.

A panel of experts gathered to discuss the emerging pressures and priorities for DNOs and the wider energy system, in Icebreaker One’s January webinar hosted by Open Engagement Manager, Vichi Chandra.

“We can’t talk about anything happening in the energy market without thinking about the current context of rising gas prices, the current cost of living crisis, and what that means to people” says Dhara Vyas, Deputy Director, Energy UK. “High prices are – rightly – driving the media narrative right now and that has meant a significant shift away from the UK leading the way on decarbonisation and net zero, to the current cost of living crisis which impacts on everyone. 

“However, I think there is a significant, real concern that this should not mean we put the brakes on our journey to achieve a net zero system. It’s really important that we think about this in the context of the consumer.”

Matt Webb, Head of Enterprise Data Management, UK Power Networks highlighted the role of DNOs in making this happen: 

“We need to accelerate the connection of low carbon technologies and maximise their use in order to contribute to net zero ambitions. At the same time, we must maintain our core role of ensuring the continuity and quality of energy supply. We cannot lose sight of the fact that we need to keep the lights on”.

Matt Webb, UK Power Networks

A period of transformation

January’s Energy Digitalisation Taskforce report made a number of key recommendations detailing what is required to deliver a digitalised and decarbonised energy system.

“One that stood out to me was the call to embed a culture of digitalisation and I think that’s really important”, said Dhara.

“It’s essential that companies across the market are planning for a digital system when it comes to building the right skills and investing in digital assets and activities. DNOs are of course a vital part of that infrastructure, and the networks in fact have a much better understanding of the state of the system than perhaps a lot of other parts of the sector; so it’s vital that they share that across the market in order to help us build the system of the future”

Dhara Vyas, Energy UK

It’s a viewpoint shared by Matt. “Digital transformation is as much about culture, behaviours and ways of working. And that’s where we as a sector need to shift to be more open and collaborative. We talk about interoperability a great deal; and that’s about how we align and standardise and facilitate communication and interaction between the different players in this ecosystem. 

“The RIIO ED2 business plans that we as DNOs have published in recent months, go into significant detail about how we plan to invest and develop our digital capabilities over the coming years, right the way through until 2028. We find ourselves at a really pivotal and important point in terms of how we meet this ongoing challenge, and ultimately deliver the interoperable energy system of the future that we are all aiming for”.

The shift that is required of DNOs, and the wider energy system as a whole, is significant. As Matt explains, “in normal terms, what a DNO is and does, is quite monolithic. And all of a sudden, to find yourself in a central, facilitating role is a big change to make. Traditional network operation entails fairly passive and predictable systems, and we’re now moving into – and are in the midst of – a far more dynamic environment. We need to help facilitate new forms of service, service providers and business models; increasing competition and consumer choice as well as supporting a flexibility first approach”.

How Open Energy can help

Open Energy is a service that makes it easy to search, access and securely share energy data. It covers the full spectrum of data; all the way from open data to really hard to access, commercially sensitive shared data, where access control is important. The Open Energy service currently includes search and access control, co-designed over the last 18+ months by industry, for industry, with support from and engagement with BEIS, InnovateUK and Ofgem (who sit as an observer on the Open Energy Steering Board).

Gavin Starks, Founder and CEO of Icebreaker One, states:

“The approach that we’ve taken with IB1 and the development of Open Energy has been to ask what are the market design principles for data sharing that can scale to whole markets, and across sectors? This has led the teams to understand how to reduce the friction, and connect data between organisations, without insisting that anyone has to put their data in a particular place. Secure data exchanges are made possible by the adoption of open standards and a shared data infrastructure that underpins cohesion and interoperability across the market.

Gavin Starks, Icebreaker One

“What we’ve been focussing on is the really valuable information that tends not to be Open – and in many cases can’t be Open. As soon as you need a set of rules around that, there needs to be a set of legal contracts and a set of processes whereby the control around who can access what recommendations, when, and so on, can be codified. There’s a lot of work there on how we can give that Access Control to the people who hold the data. 

“Whether or not that’s a business-to-business context or whether it’s a consumer context; the mode of consent, the process of consent management, and rights assignment to the data are all miles away from what organisations are used to thinking about and dealing with. So there’s a massive amount of work to be done in helping to understand the problems that everybody’s trying to solve, both in terms of infrastructure, but also in understanding what the rules are and how we can bring people together so that we end up with an open marketplace”.

What are the opportunities here for DNOs?

Matt says: “When it comes to data, commerciality is certainly one of those factors we need to think about, and we need to be cognisant of the fact that we work in an increasingly competitive market. However, we need to recognize that we are part of an ecosystem now where that commercial data is key. The key to that is us working collaboratively and trying to establish the common processes and practices that make sure that we’re making consistent decisions.” 

Dhara agrees that a whole-system approach is needed: “we have identified all the pieces of the puzzle but now we need to put them together”.

“It’s not just about DNOs but everyone in the sector; the challenge is manifold” adds Gavin. “Leadership needs to come from various different points of the system – government and market leaders – and a lot of the innovation will come naturally from large organisations and smaller start-ups. The question is: how can we do all that together? 

“What we’ve tried to create here with the Open Energy programme is space for that to happen. So ultimately we’re here to help bring people together, have the right conversations and really focus on where that business value is and how that interlinks with the overall data strategy; both for individual organisations and for the sector as a whole”.

Get involved

• Become a member of Open Energy to use our pilot service
• Join Icebreaker One, which develops and operates Open Energy, as a supporter
• Sign up to the Open Energy newsletter

Archive video:

What:

Our January Open Energy webinar will explore what a DNO could look like by 2030, as the UK strives to digitalise its energy networks and cut emissions by 68% as part of the Paris Agreement.

Considering the decade ahead, our panelists will discuss imminent questions such as the challenges and opportunities that digitalisation and net zero bring for the energy sector and the role of DNOs in the transition process. They will offer their unique perspectives on how demands on DNOs are likely to change, including from other energy system actors as well as Government and regulators, and the cultural shifts required inside the energy ecosystem over the next few years.

Speakers:

• Vichi Chandra, Open Engagement Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Gavin Starks, Founder, Icebreaker One
• Matt Webb, Head of Enterprise Data, UK Power Networks
• Dhara Vyas, Deputy Director, Energy UK

If you think a colleague or sector expert would be interested in joining this event, please share it with them.

Open Energy has been supported in-part with UK Government funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and BEIS.

https://www.motu.nz/about-us/public-policy-seminars/events/the-role-of-energy-data-in-enabling-climate-change-mitigation-innovation/

Gavin Starks provided an introduction to Open Energy: what it is, how it was made and who it is for, discussing the Open Energy ecosystem and the relationships and innovation required to establish market-wide standards which can unlock the common data required to help us all address Net-Zero. The presentation also covered how opening up the energy sector will impact the wider industrial and financial sectors, enabling the acceleration of low-carbon technologies and de-risking investment in net-zero solutions.

Archive video:

What:

Recent developments at COP26 showed that data access is at the heart of our plans to get to net zero. This means organisations will need to prepare to accelerate plans for data sharing and data publishing. 

In our next 30 minute webinar, we’ll be exploring what COP26 announcements mean for businesses and their data, and what changes can be expected in the years to come.

We’ll discuss our main takeaways from COP26, and the actions that you can take now to ensure your data and digitalisation strategies will support the shift to Net Zero.

Speakers:

• Gavin Starks, Founder and CEO, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Lee Wilson, Product Owner – Data & Analytics, ScottishPower
• Lucy Yu, CEO, Centre for Net Zero
• Ronan Palmer, Head of Clean Economy Programme, E3G

If you think a colleague or sector expert would be interested in joining this event, please share it with them.

Open Energy has been supported in-part with UK Government funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and BEIS.

Archive video:

What
Open Energy – now in Pilot phase – is working closely with industry and government to shape the energy data infrastructure of the future so we can get to net zero. 

In our next 30 minute webinar, we’ll be outlining how Open Energy enables an open marketplace that makes it easier to find, access and share energy data – and what that means for your business.

We’ll walk you through what Open Energy will look like, including how it contributes to data and digitalisation strategies. We’ll give you an overview of the onboarding process and exactly what’s required to get started. You’ll hear a few different perspectives – including from people who’ve used the service to search and access data – and be able to ask questions at the end.

Speakers

• Gea Mikic, Programme Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Yiu-Shing Pang, Open Data Manager, UK Power Networks
• Tom Hukins, API Developer, Icebreaker One
• Alice Garnier, Operations Lead, Farad.ai

If you think a colleague would be interested in joining this event, please share it with them.

Programme: Open Energy is designed to make it easier to search, access and use Open Data and Commercial Data across the whole sector. Its development has been/is supported through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), SBRI and BEIS programmes, grant and commercial income.

Where: Archive below

Full Video:

Slides:

[click the 3 dots to make full screen]

What:

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 and demand, ranging from connecting more renewables to charging our electric vehicles. 

Having recently completed Beta under the MEDA programme, Icebreaker One is launching a Pilot phase of Open Energy, running from October 2021 to February 2022. We’re now inviting applications to the Open Energy Advisory Groups to help steer this emerging national energy data infrastructure.

In this one hour webinar hosted by Icebreaker One Founder and CEO Gavin Starks, we’ll let you know what to expect from this next stage of the Open Energy programme and how you and/or your organisation can get involved.

If you think a colleague or sector expert would be interested in joining this event, please share it with them.

Open Energy has been supported in part with UK Government funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and BEIS. 

Archive video:

Who:

• Kathryn Corrick, Strategy & Development Director, Icebreaker One (chair)
• Gavin Starks, CEO & Founder, Icebreaker One 
• More speakers TBC

What:

Join us to celebrate innovative visualisations in UK energy data!

Visualisations are a great way for people to understand, feel inspired and engage with energy data, in turn helping accelerate the transition to Net Zero.

At this Showcase you will be introduced to exciting energy data visualisations in the UK right now. You will hear from our panel of expert judges and the winners of the Showcase will be announced!

The Showcase is part of the Energy Data Visibility Project led by a partnership between Icebreaker One, Arup, and Hippo Digital, and commissioned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Developing an innovative service that will connect the UK’s current patchwork of energy data sources to improve their visibility and accuracy.

Programme: The Energy Data Visibility Project (EDVP) forms part of the Modernising Energy Data (MED) programme being commissioned by BEIS, Ofgem and Innovate UK.

This project update is informal and not yet formally endorsed by BEIS. Formal notices will be marked as such.

Who:

• Gea Mikic, Programme Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Miles Cheetham, Data Infrastructure Lead, Icebreaker One
• Chris Turner, Technical Architect at PassivSystems
• Tom Oinn, Information Architect, Icebreaker One
• Kasia Kulma, Data Scientist, Icebreaker One

What:

Open Energy has been designed for the energy sector by the energy sector. It will enable an open marketplace to make it easier to find, access and share energy data, helping unlock efficiency and innovation throughout the ecosystem. Through collaboration and open standards, Open Energy members can engage in the development of the services and standards to enable their data strategies and enable both commercial and open data sharing.

For data suppliers, Open Energy helps increase the addressable market for commercial and open data.

For data consumers, Open Energy provides efficient access to both commercial and open data.

In this half-hour webinar, we’ll show how organisations can engage in the future of energy data sharing in the UK. The Icebreaker One team will demonstrate how to integrate directly with Open Energy systems, help you understand what is needed to make your organisation market-ready, and hear about the onboarding experience of users through the beta programme.

Open Energy won UK Government backing and funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and BEIS.

Where: Archive below

Links and extracts from the online chat

Documents:

• ‘Digitalising our energy system for net zero: strategy and action plan’; Energy Digitalisation Strategy, developed by the government, Ofgem and Innovate UK in coordination with the energy sector.
• Icebreaker One’s map of the UK energy data ecosystem.
• Information about the Ofgem/UKRI Innovate UK Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF); a funding mechanism for the Electricity System Operator, Electricity Transmission, Gas Transmission and Gas Distribution sectors.
• Details of the Energy Networks Association (ENA) Network Innovation Competition (NIC) and Call for Ideas 2021; an annual opportunity for Electricity Network companies to compete for funding for the development and demonstration of new technologies and new operating and commercial arrangements (open until 27th October). You can register for the ENA NIC Information Webinar taking place on 1st October.
• Connect don’t collect; additional context behind the Icebreaker One mission to enable organisations to find and connect data around user-needs, in order to build an energy data ecosystem that works for everyone.
• Ofgem’s Data Best Practice Guidance.
• A full summary of the Open Energy MEDA Phase 3 work that was done this year, and the launch of the Pilot phase. We invite applications to join the Pilot and collaborate with Open Energy as part of the Advisory, Steering and community engagement groups.
• Link to register (free) for the Energy Networks Innovation Conference, where the National Energy System Map launch will take place on the 15th October.

Questions:

• Q: Our digital transformation may well rely on granular and  timely-delivered consumption data. Without mandatory provision of HH data from domestic smart meters, can we really transform to meet our ideals? Is a policy change required to make this data available to all that need it to help to profile, forecast, settle and plan?
  • A: From Danae : Great question. We work closely with the Smart Meters team to understand what data can be opened and shared and to whom so that as many actors as possible can access smart meter data while protecting privacy.

• Q: Useful energy data ecosystem diagram earlier, labelled as UK but set up in Northern Ireland is different considering the Single Electricity Market (SEM). For panel members, is focus orientated towards GB rather than UK wholly? How can NI be part of this movement and not miss out?
  • A: From Gavin Starks : Thank you – that diagram is, as you say, GB … let’s make sure we have NI properly represented … gavin@icebreakerone.org
  • A: From Sara Vaughan : I think that regulators can be a huge catalyst for change here – viz. the role of Ofgem in GB.  Better data enables better decisions.  Where is the NI regulator on this? Plays to Danae’s current point
  • A: From Danae : https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2021/05/data_best_practice_guidance_v0.3_0.pdf

• Q: Is the issue about data sharing partially because sharing is usually seen as all or nothing: you share or you don’t? Could this be addressed by having consistent consent processes where a data owner can say “I’ll share my energy data down to daily granularity with those parties for this particular use”?
  • A: From Gavin Starks : absolutely – Consent management is central to the Open Energy trust framework

Who:

• Gavin Starks, CEO & Founder, Icebreaker One [Chair]
• Dan Clarke, Head of Innovation, Energy Networks Association
• Sara Vaughan, Non-executive Director, Elexon; Membership Advisory Group co-chair, Icebreaker One
• Tolu Oladimeji, Data Governance and Strategy Lead, SSE plc
• Simon Evans, Digital Energy Leader, Arup
• Andy Allen, Data Scientist, CityScience
• Danae Marshall, Head of Energy Data, BEIS

What:

This event will demystify the role of data in achieving Net Zero in the UK’s energy system. It will be a practical look at the obstacles standing in the way of Net Zero, and the changes needed to improve access to data for businesses and the public sector. 

We’ll hear from real users of the Open Energy service currently in development, which aims to revolutionise the way energy data is shared in the UK to help deliver the UK’s commitments to the Paris Agreement.

Where: Archive

Who:

• Gavin Starks, CEO & Founder, Icebreaker One  
• Ed Dowding, UX / Web Developer, Open Energy, Icebreaker One  
• Cybele Wong, Senior Scientist, Arup 
• Zoe Slater, UX Design Consultant, Hippo Digital  
• More speakers TBC

What:

Making it easier to discover, access and share energy data will help accelerate the transition to Net Zero. 

The Energy Data Visibility Project is led by a partnership between Icebreaker One, Arup, and Hippo, and commissioned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It will develop an innovative service that will connect the UK’s current patchwork of energy data sources to improve their visibility and accuracy. 

The service will aim to accelerate the UK’s journey to Net Zero by making energy data more accessible and remove barriers to sharing it securely, boosting the UK’s energy transition. 

This half-hour event will explain the project in greater detail and lay out what it means for energy data access. The project team will answer questions from the audience and share information on how to participate in the project. 

The Energy Data Visibility Project (EDVP) forms part of the Modernising Energy Data (MED) programmes being commissioned by BEIS, Ofgem and Innovate UK, which are leading the change towards a digital energy sector. Icebreaker One works on this in partnership with Arup and digital consultancy Hippo Digital. 

This project update is informal and not yet formally endorsed by BEIS. Formal notices will be marked as such.

Archive

Who:

• Frank Wales, Delivery Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Aneysha Minocha, Founder and Director, Quantenergy Ltd.
• Jake Verma, Senior Consultant, Digital and Data, Energy Systems Catapult
• Alex Arnold, Data Consultant, DTSquared

What:

The Open Energy beta testing programme is now live, with eight organisations participating. Within the testing programme, our beta users are onboarding to the Open Energy Directory and are testing the usability, functionality and technical integration of Open Energy Search. This is a crucial stage of our product development and helps us to ensure that Open Energy meets the full breadth of sector and user needs, to create an effective and trusted environment for data sharing.

In our next half-hour webinar we’ll be handing over to our beta testers to share their first experiences of using the Open Energy beta service. They’ll be joined by the Icebreaker One team who will answer questions from the audience and share information on how you can apply for our second wave beta.

Open Energy won UK Government backing and funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Data is seen as key to the achievement of net zero carbon emission in the UK energy industry.

“Open Energy” is about sharing data between energy suppliers, solution developers and the public.

Is it possible to learn from the approaches already adopted within other industries, for example, retail banking.

• What is ‘NetZero’ in this context and what data is required?
• What is ‘Open Data’ and what are the challenges?
• How can energy data be made ‘open’?
• What lessons can be learned from the success of Open Banking?

https://www.bcs.org/events/2021/february/webinar-data-for-open-energy

Where: Archive webinar

Who:

• Gavin Starks, CEO & Founder, Icebreaker One [Chair]
• Dan Clarke, Head of Innovation, Energy Networks Association (ENA)
• Simon Evans, Digital Energy Leader, Arup 
• Helen Crooks, Chief Data Officer, Ofgem 
• Sara Vaughan FEI, Non-Executive Director, Elexon & Open Energy Membership Advisory Group co-chair, Icebreaker One
• Andrew Allen, Data Scientist & Energy Research Lead, City Science

What:

This event will demystify the role of data in achieving Net Zero in the UK’s energy system. It will be a practical look at the obstacles standing in the way of Net Zero, and the changes needed to improve access to data for businesses and the public sector. 

We’ll hear from real users of the Open Energy service currently in development, which aims to revolutionise the way energy data is shared in the UK to help deliver the UK’s commitments to the Paris Agreement.

This event is organised as part of London Climate Action Week 2021.

Convening industry, research and academia, and including students, data analysts, CTOs and beyond, this presentation includes detail about how data sharing will impact the whole energy sector and how it might help those focused on digital technologies apply this to renewables.

It will focus on modernising the energy system and consider the market design, digital architecture and governance of a modern digitalised energy system, to deliver a set of actionable recommendations that sit at the intersection between policy, regulation and innovation.

Full video here (duration: 46 mins)

https://youtu.be/AfcKaWDzpsk?t=40 (and embedded below)

PDF copy of their presentation slides

Our overview at 32m36s (duration: 4 min)

Our video and slides are also available at https://energy.icebreakerone.org/2021/05/12/open-energy-in-5-minutes/

Video:

Slides here:

You can watch a recording of the webinar here:

Want to hear more? Contact us via email (openenergy@icebreakerone.org) or apply to join Open Energy as a beta tester [applications close 1800 BST on 21 May].

When: 17 May 2021, 11.30am-12pm BST

Where: Online, archive below

Who:

• Gea Mikic, Programme Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Kasia Kulma, Data Scientist, Icebreaker One
• Tolu Oladimeji, Data Governance & Strategy Lead, SSE
• Danae Marshall, Senior Policy Advisor, BEIS (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy)

What:

Open Energy is a new service that will enable people in the UK’s energy ecosystem to seamlessly search for, share and access shared data in an easy, secure way. It will develop a trusted ecosystem of data providers and energy data service providers, helping the sector drive towards Net Zero and resolving current challenges around opening up datasets.

This half-hour event will lay out what Open Energy will mean for data providers:

• Improving the quality and standard of your data
• Meeting your strategic targets and compliance obligations
• Engaging with stakeholders in the energy supply chains
• Enhancing your company profile and visibility of your services

The team will answer questions from the audience and share information on how to join Open Energy as a beta tester.

Open Energy won UK Government backing and funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).