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Find out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams
SMPnet Ltd, an SME technology start-up, developed Omega, a state-of-the-art power grid management framework. Energy Systems Catapult’s Energy Launchpad team worked with SMPnet to further refine the route to market within the emerging Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) landscape for value-based network controllers. This included:
SMPnet came to Energy Systems Catapult as an organisation in its infancy with an interesting proposition and strong engineering skills. Their solution was attractive, but the team at SMPnet did not understand where it should focus their deployment, either as a grid management software or as a microgrid application for energy communities. The business primarily focused on innovation projects with limited scope of full commercial deployments until the market maturity was there.
SLES are an emerging market, however Network Operators are already exploring system architectures to provide optimisation of multiple and sophisticated assets. SMPnet’s controller is a key component in providing these Network Operators with the control required to enable the SLES market to develop.
There was a requirement to gain insights into the problems, needs and priorities of Network Operators to position SMPnet’s solution to help build customer confidence and encourage greater adoption. This consumer insight work would support the development of the design blueprints for a MVP SaaS product, and understand the value being created.
SMPnet, an agile startup, leverages its advanced power grid management framework, Omega, to coordinate energy assets towards meeting operational objectives. Omega efficiently manages local power flows and voltages across multiple scales.
Uniquely positioned in the market, SMPnet’s solutions provide real-time, millisecond-level, dynamic control. This unprecedented responsiveness fosters 100% renewable penetration to the distribution grid and unlocks multiple value streams, driving increased revenue for clients while ensuring grid stability. SMPnet is shaping a more secure, efficient, and sustainable energy future by integrating seamlessly with existing technologies and prioritising renewable energy sources.
Following earlier work which helped the business understand the UK marketplace and where their value proposition fit into the competitive landscape, the Catapult supported the development of proof-of-concept use cases. This enabled SMPnet to identify and segment target groups with complex energy systems architecture and diverse equipment who would benefit most from utilising coordinated optimisation and real-time control.
A digital fitness assessment helped understand SMPnet’s data readiness, identifying data sources and modelling required to integrate the datasets into different algorithms.
The Catapult also supported with investment generation and investor readiness programme, developing go-to market resources, including a high-level overview of the opportunity and introductions to qualified investors. A final piece of work, as part of a wider cohort, was to investigate the regulatory landscape and understand which regulations apply to these energy technologies.
Energy Systems Catapult is home to the Energy Launchpad, which provides carefully selected energy innovators with tailored business incubation and acceleration support to help address barriers to growth, de-risk innovation, scale-up the business and secure investment.
Tailored support for selected SMEs utilising the Catapult assets and capabilities, and delivery partner offerings, such as business model development, energy system integration assessment, consumer insights guidance, digital fitness, market testing and validation, investor readiness, specialist advice, as well as identification for Acceleration support.
Energy Launchpad started this project by hosting a workshop with SMPnet to identify use cases. From this we delivered:
“We deeply believe in the work we have been doing with the Catapult team. It added lots of value to our business and its impact will be seen across 2023 and beyond, as we delve into commercial engagements. The various activities have been an eye-opener, as we got the chance to expand on aspects unknown to us, including business modelling, customer journey, and more”.
We open doors at home and abroad to create start-up success stories – propelling your business step-by-step from innovation assessment to commercial scale-up.
Find out moreFind out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams
Find out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams