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.

Goole and District Hospital is one of 3 hospitals that form Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust. Opened in 1988, it is home to the Goole neuro-rehabilitation centre, which treats patients with brain injuries and other neurological conditions from across the country.

The ambitious Modern Energy Partners (MEP) innovation programme set out to reduce the site’s emissions and achieve at least 50% carbon emission reduction by 2032 (against a 2017 baseline) in line with the governments’ decarbonisation targets.

In 2019, the site had an annual energy consumption of 7.5GWh and an energy bill of circa £350,000. MEP developed a decarbonisation plan for the site that demonstrated how a £2.8m investment could decarbonise the site by 66%.

As part of the plan, the first no regret measures were implemented between March and December 2021, including:

Key facts

• Removal of existing coal fired boilers
• New, fully integrated Building Management System
• Improved hot water distribution system with plate heat exchangers
• Energy efficient LED lighting installed across site
• Building fabric upgrades – Cavity wall and loft insulation
• Estimated savings of £250,000 and 1,387 tCO2e per annum for the hospital
• A reduction in energy usage of 3.8 Gigawatt hours on site (9% of annual usage) 3.45 GWh per annum (45%).

The Milford Haven : Energy Kingdom project set our to detail how the complex structures of policy, regulation, markets, technologies and interoperability – along with other energy vectors such as natural gas and electricity – could enable hydrogen to form an integrated part of a smart local energy system.

Milford Haven has staked a claim to be at the forefront of the Net Zero transition, with an industrial cluster that can handle 30% of total UK gas demand, is home to Europe’s largest gas-fired power station that supplies electricity to 3.5 million homes and businesses, has ambitions to build 90MW of floating offshore wind, supports 5,000 jobs and injects £324m to the Pembrokeshire economy.

Energy Systems Catapult produced a Systems Architecture report for Milford Haven with support from over 40 organisations, as part of the Prospering from the Energy Revolution programme funded by InnovateUk.

The report explored future energy system architectures, that combine technology, the interconnectivity between them and data; with markets, trading platforms and policies; with business models and defined organisational governance. The aim of these designs is to provide:

• The basis for a roadmap for the next phases of development and implementation
• Confidence to innovators and investors in the future longevity of investments in hydrogen
• A common basis of understanding for all stakeholders wishing to contribute to the Milford Haven : Energy Kingdom.

Portsmouth International Port is piloting a smart energy system to significantly decarbonise their port operations as part of the Port Energy Systems Optimisation (PESO) project.

The PESO solution will integrate local electricity generation with innovation in: the design and construction of novel dual-chemistry battery technology, advanced management software to optimise onsite energy generation and storage, and development of smart port grid infrastructure. The aim is to demonstrate how ports can meet emerging on-shore power demands and the requirements of ships as they increasingly use shore power and adopt electric propulsion whilst minimizing the need for expensive grid upgrading and optimising the use of variable tariffs.

Energy Systems Catapult assessed the future energy requirements around ports and the long term impact on the energy system, while Swanbarton, specialists in energy storage and control technologies, developed energy management software. Marine South East is leading the project and will plan how the technology can be commercialised and rolled out across UK ports as rapidly as possible.