Energy industry leaders and innovators gathered today at a House of Commons event celebrating progress in digitalising Britain’s energy system.

Earlier this year the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce (EDiT) – commissioned by government, Ofgem and Innovate UK – made six recommendations to help shape the requirements to deliver a digitalised and decarbonised energy system.

The taskforce, which is run by Energy Systems Catapult and chaired by Laura Sandys CBE, today brought key sector figures together to discuss what has been done – and what still needs to happen – to action those recommendations and effectively digitalise the energy system.

It is estimated that by 2050 improved energy system flexibility through digitalisation could reduce overall UK energy system costs by up to £10 billion annually and create up to 24,000 jobs.

Digitalisation of the energy system is not only necessary for it to operate with an increasing share of renewable power, it also provides an opportunity for the UK to continue to be at the forefront of the global energy transition.

The sector is currently working to put in place the tools, technology and people needed to rise to the challenge of a net zero energy system with the help of an evolving policy landscape, innovation funding and cross sector collaboration.

At today’s event, Innovate UK announced UKRI’s latest funding award for six energy digitalisation projects as part of the Open Digital Solutions for Net Zero Energy call, under the Prospering from the Energy Revolution challenge programme.

Laura Sandys, chair of the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce and non-executive director at the Catapult, said:

“The taskforce’s recommendations aim to accelerate the digitalisation of our energy system. That transformation is no longer a nice to have – it’s crucial if we’re to manage the growing complexities of a decarbonised system.

“Today’s event is about reflecting on and celebrating the progress made to date, but also about discussing the serious work still to do to unlock the opportunities and innovation that digitalisation can offer.”

Watch below to hear more from Laura about the event.