Modern Energy Partners (MEP) was a two-year, £20million innovation pilot exploring how to decarbonise complex  sites across the public sector estate to help Government reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2032.

The project was a collaborative cross-departmental programme, coordinated and delivered by Energy Systems Catapult and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Cabinet Office, with additional match funding from pathfinder sites.

MEP investigated a test bed of 42 sites responsible for over 4 million tCO₂e carbon emissions – equating to 3.2% of Ministry of Defence (MOD), 13% of Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and 3.5% of NHS sites, including three pathfinder sites:

• HM Sheppey Prison Cluster
• HMS Collingwood – Royal Navy base
• NHS Goole and District Hospital

MEP developed Public Sector Decarbonisation Guidance – systematic, repeatable and scalable approaches to decarbonising sites. Firstly, the rapid deployment of data gathering technologies and techniques to appraise the net zero potential of sites – including installing telemetry across 23 sites.

Secondly, a range of tools and templates allowing sites to develop decarbonisation plans – including plans for 24 sites to reduce emissions on average by 70% by 2032. Thirdly, MEP carried out initial carbon reduction works at the three pathfinder sites – including installing 21,515 LEDs light bulbs and smart Building Management Systems that now control 176,990 m2 of buildings.

Energy Systems Catapult  is management contractor for the £16.5 million Electrification of Heat (EoH) demonstration project on behalf of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The EoH project aims to overcome barriers to deployment and demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale roll-out of heat pumps in Great Britain.

The Catatpult is managing three delivery contractors in three locations:

• South East of Scotland – lead delivery contractor Warmworks working with Energy Savings Trust and Changeworks.
• Newcastle – lead delivery contractor E.ON working with Newcastle City Council and Your Homes Newcastle.
• South East of England – lead delivery contractor Ovo Energy working with Kaluza, RetrofitWorks, Parity Projects and SunAmp.

The recruitment and installation phase of the EoH project ran from July 2020 through to October 2021, and despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, 742 heat pumps were installed into a broad spectrum of housing types and socio-economic groups, that reflects a representative sample of households across Great Britain.

Outputs derived from the project will include:

• Evidence on heat pump suitability across a range of housing archetypes, including system and installation costs.
• Real-world performance data for heat pumps and demand profiles across a range of housing and consumer types.
• Insights found to inform future government policy in this area.

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Energy Systems Catapult delivered the £30m, five-year Smart Systems and Heat (SSH) programme between 2015 and 2019.

SSH Phase 1 – developed capabilities, tools and insights on:

• Local Energy Systems Modelling – we designed a planning framework to help local government, energy networks and other key local stakeholders plan for a low carbon future.
• Consumer-focused propositions – research revealing how the smart technology can help energy providers understand what consumers want from heating, turning passive bill-payers into discerning customers.
• Domestic energy services – we explored how profound changes in energy retail provision, such as selling Heat as a Service instead of purchasing of units of fuel, could drive the uptake of  low carbon heating solutions.

SSH Phase 2 – developed capabilities, tools and insights on:

1. Consumer trials of smart energy services – create the 100-home  Living Lab test environment to investigate how consumers use heat and testing their interest in buying ‘heat as a service’.
2. New business models and market structures – looking at new business models for energy services, the importance of interoperability and consumer protection, plus the policy and regulatory context.
3. Local Area Energy Planning – took the local energy system modelling work and developed targeted, specific projects that demonstrate the ideas in practice, including Decarbonisation Strategies in the three local areas.

Prospering from the Energy Revolution (PFER) was set up by government to design and develop approach to creating smart local energy systems. Energy Systems Catapult  played a central role within PFER through the Energy Revolution Integration Service (ERIS), providing expert guidance and support to selected projects, as well as collaborative opportunities for shared learning, including:

• Helping prevent design and demonstration projects falling into the “valley of death” typically experienced by technology demonstration programmes that address technological integration challenges
• Identifying and help PFER Projects resolve wider system issues such as consumer engagement, policy and regulatory alignment, data and communications interoperability, etc.
• Facilitating knowledge sharing with the PFER participants and the wider system stakeholders generate evidence-based insight reports to inform decision makers
• Providing whole system integration services to the PFER design and demonstration projects

ERIS delivered a range outputs to support decarbonisation of local places, including:

• Net Zero Go – a unique, powerful, easy-to-use digital platform bringing together all the tools and support that local authorities need to develop successful, locally-focused zero carbon projects.
• ZeroCarbon.Vote – a pioneering online consultation tool designed to help local authorities and businesses put people at the heart of the energy system transformation.
• Enabling Smart Local Energy Systems – Supporting the creation of Smart Local Energy Systems to attract innovative low carbon businesses, infrastructure, investment and jobs.