Background

As part of the Modernising Energy Data Access (MEDA) competition, a core use case was developed to demonstrate the benefits of an Open Energy Search and Access Control. This focused around a Local Authority looking to understand the impact of retrofitting Low Carbon Technologies and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points across a large estate. 

As part of our user needs-based approach, two further use cases are being developed. These will further develop the value of better data access: making energy data more robust, shareable, and easily accessible, and outlining the benefits of the Open Energy approach to stakeholders across the market.

Use case prioritisation process

Step 1

Members of the Open Energy Steering and Advisory Groups, including representatives from government, regulators, consumer bodies, trade associations and industry, identified potential areas of focus for new use cases.

Broad areas were considered during this process, including flexibility, electric vehicles (EVs), fuel poverty, heat pumps, smart meter adoption rates, and the transition away from gas boilers/heating.

Step 2

Following prioritisation discussions with the Steering and Advisory Groups, focus was narrowed to two candidates: 

• Electric Vehicles (EVs)
  The switch from conventionally-fuelled to emission-free vehicles forms a core part of the UK government’s Net Zero strategy, with the adoption of EVs expected to increase at an exponential rate over the next decade. To support this uptake, it is essential that a comprehensive charging infrastructure is in place. New legislation requiring all new building developments to have EV charging points will contribute to this.
  
  However, as it stands, it’s felt that the grid lacks enough capacity and/or flexibility to support the anticipated increase in electricity demand as a result of the mass adoption of EVs. Better, and better access to, data will help ensure that an increase in the number of EVs – and EV charging points – does not place unsustainable demands on our energy resources. Our EV use case will explore this opportunity through the lens of a specific stakeholder, map the data value chain required and engage with actors within it.

• Flexibility (‘flex’)
  The way the UK sources its energy is continuing to evolve away from the certainty of electricity supplied by a relatively small number of large power stations, to the distributed energy supply of multiple low-carbon technologies. The ability of these distributed resources to supply electricity at given times of day or year is more variable and less linear and the costs of managing this variability are high. In parallel,  customer demand patterns are changing as the UK electrifies its heating, transport, and related areas. This will require a move to a far more flexible system – in both supply and demand. As with EVs, our flex use case will demonstrate how Energy Search and Access Control could support this flexibility, from the perspective of a particular stakeholder (for example, a flexible asset owner), map the data value chain required, and engage with actors within it.

Step 3

Members of the Steering and Advisory Groups have put forward specific problem statements in each of these areas that improved access to energy data could help address. Over the period from December 2021 to February 2022, the Open Energy programme will work with stakeholders in each of these priority areas to detail the specific use cases for development, with a view to publication by the end of February 2022. 

1. A web of energy data for everyone that unlocks an open market for existing players, innovators and investors to create benefits for industry, consumers and society.

2. Easy access to authenticated and reliable energy data that maximises value and minimises barriers to competition across the energy sector and beyond.

3. Market-wide cohesion and interoperability across the energy and related sectors, supported by open standards and data infrastructure that underpin and enable downstream markets.

4. Material impact to accelerate innovation and decarbonisation, delivered by industry participation, regulatory support and growth of a thriving ecosystem.

We believe this will: 

• unlock a web of energy data for everyone
• accelerate the transition to net zero
• help unlock innovation and finance across energy and connected markets
• democratise rights to access and use of data
• enable engagements for discourse and decision-making
• provide common solutions for interoperable technology
• take close, collegiate collaboration between industry, Government, regulators and other stakeholders to address societal shared challenges
• empower businesses and consumers to reduce costs and deliver net zero

For more detail about the definitions of terms, including cohesion and interoperability, see https://icebreakerone.org/the-icebreaker-one-trust-framework/ 

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.

In May we held the third of our Phase 3 Advisory Groups tasked with shaping the Open Energy programme of work in the following areas: 1) Membership and 2) Delivery. The Steering Group also met to provide guidance on our overarching strategy.

The three groups convene 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. Our Advisory Groups help us to understand how the UK may better modernise energy data access from a 360 perspective, and ensure that Open Energy is designed effectively for the benefit of society.

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

Membership

The Membership AG was well-attended, with great engagement from all stakeholders.

Concluded this month:

• Data sensitivity classes – Open Energy will handle data of varying levels of sensitivity and this final policy document presents a system of five data sensitivity classes, from closed, through shared, to open.
• Also shared architecture overview

Still under discussion:

• Membership tiers and proposed fee structure (based on agreed charging principles of Not for Profit, proportionate and inclusive), now out for consultation until 7 June 2021
• Guidance to support Data Providers in classifying datasets
• Data access conditions that are relevant for the Data Provider in deciding whether to grant access to datasets (consultation now concluded)
• Using feedback received, distillation of the value of Open Energy to best appeal to Data Providers, Data Consumers and Service Providers

Delivery

The Delivery AG was well-attended, with great engagement from all stakeholders.

Concluded this month:

• Data sensitivity classes – Open Energy will handle data of varying levels of sensitivity and this final policy document presents a system of five data sensitivity classes, from closed, through shared, to open.
• Review of the operational guidelines sections 1 & 3.

Still under discussion:

• Private beta testing and consultation underway with various organisations including Western Power Distribution (WPD).
• Data Access: consultation document to determine conditions that Service Providers must meet in order to gain access to datasets in different sensitivity classes.
• Processing of Data: survey to enable drafting of guidelines for how Data Providers publish and classify datasets within the Open Energy ecosystem.
• Data Set Examples: to enable documentation to refer to real data in examples and  demonstrate key features.
• Amplification of Beta Testing to drive wider industry engagement and higher levels of participation – from Data Providers, Data Consumers and Service Providers.

Steering Group

The Steering Group met to discuss two key priorities:

1. Funding post-MEDA Phase 3
2. Integration with EDVP

Actions from the May meeting:

• Discuss data sensitivity classes policy with Ofgem
• Develop commercial membership proposition for Data Providers
• Support the private beta testing programme now underway
• Continue to work closely with BEIS on EDVP integration

In April we held the second of our Phase 3 Advisory Groups tasked with shaping the Open Energy programme of work in the following areas: 1) Membership and 2) Delivery. The Steering Group also met to provide guidance on our overarching strategy.

The three groups convene 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. Our Advisory Groups help us to understand how the UK may better modernise energy data access from a 360 perspective, and ensure that Open Energy is designed effectively for the benefit of society.

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

Membership

Approved this month:

• Open Energy Terms of Reference for the Advisory Groups and Steering Group
• Standard definitions, acronyms and terminology to be used in Open Energy (Section 2 of Operational Guidelines)
• Consultation on data sensitivity classes (closed 30-April)
• Amends to Introduction (Section 1) of Operational Guidelines
• Roadmap for future Membership Advisory Group meetings (May, June, July)
• Membership charging principles: not-for-profit, proportionate, inclusive

Still in discussion:

• Membership funding structure
  • What are the minimum viable components required to create an attractive membership proposition?
  • What are the key criteria between levels of membership?
• Governance structure
  • What is the role of the membership in decision making?
  • How can we ensure that smaller participating members are heard and larger members are not able to ‘pay for influence’?
  • What are the proposed procedures for ongoing internal governance?
  • How should we manage problem resolution and dispute policies?
• Operational Guidelines
  • Outstanding sections
  • Review of full draft
• Relationships between data providers and service providers
  • Ongoing questions concerning scope between the two

Delivery

Approved this month:

• Open Energy Terms of Reference for the Advisory Groups and Steering Group
• Standard definitions, acronyms and terminology to be used in Open Energy (Section 2 of Operational Guidelines)
• Consultation on data sensitivity classes (closed 30-April)
• Users and key players within the Open Energy ecosystem – Data Providers / Service providers / Dual roles

Still in discussion:

• The Open Energy onboarding process
  • How can we create a frictionless onboarding process for different organisations/clients/users?
  • Requirements may differ for large companies and/or SMEs due to the legal/commercial implications for their own data management/access policies 
• Data provider guidelines
  • Data sharing architecture, dynamics, processes and mechanics – including APIs
  • Potential classification issues:
    • One entity with different data sets and varying openness levels
    • Entities that are both data providers and service providers
  • How to deal with shifting collaboration partners and timed projects
• Data access policy
  • Conditions for data access, using data sensitivity classes as a starting point for discussion
• Data licensing policy
  • Potential legal and/or commercial matters that may arise as companies open/share data
  • Potential complications re: data redistribution and/or combination and/or onward sharing
  • Dealing with evolving levels of “Openness” for different datasets, especially regulated and/or code based

Steering Group

The Steering Group reviewed what we are aiming to achieve over the next six months, highlighting the importance of the Steering Group in raising and resolving any unanswered questions.

Actions from the April meeting:

• Capture use cases
  • Clarify what liability gets carried where, in which use case
• Refine communications
  • What is Open Energy?
  • What are we delivering vs what we are enabling?
  • What is the future roadmap?
• Define the pricing plan
  • What is needed in the short/medium/long term?
  • Role and approach for continuity funding

Join us as a beta tester organisation

Help shape the future of Open Energy and apply to join us as a beta tester organisation. Beta applications will close on 0900 BST 18 May 2021.

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).

We heard firsthand from Rosie McGlynn at PassivSystems – our first beta user of the service – about her own experience of using the product. You can watch a recording of the webinar here:

Want to hear more? Register to find out how to become an Open Energy member.

When: 19 April 2021 – 2pm-2.30pm BST

Where: Online, sign up via Eventbrite

Who:

• Gea Mikic, Programme Manager, Icebreaker One (Chair)
• Emily Judson, Research Associate – Open Energy, Icebreaker One
• Frank Wales, Product Innovation Lead, Icebreaker One 
• Rosie McGlynn, Senior Programme Manager, PassivSystems, the first Beta user of Open Energy

What:

Open Energy is a new live service that will enable energy stakeholders to seamlessly search for, share and access shared data in an easy, secure way. 

The aim is to change the way energy data is shared with a solution developed by the sector for the sector. 

This half-hour event will showcase what to expect from Open Energy, set out its potential value for users, and share an early preview of the platform. The team will answer questions from the audience, and share information on how to join this ambitious project and register your interest as a potential Beta user. 

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