As part of the Smart Systems and Heat phase 2 programme, Bridgend County Borough Council has developed a Smart Energy Plan with support from Energy Systems Catapult, Welsh Government, the Energy Technologies Institute and other stakeholders.

It builds on the strategic activities identified in the Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP), that was developed by the Smart Systems and Heat (SSH) programme. The LAEP has provided insight into the potential pathways for securely and affordably achieving a targeted 95% reduction in emissions (from a 1990 baseline) from Bridgend County Borough’s buildings by 2050.

Key points

This Smart Energy Plan, formally maps out and identifies the projects and activities that could be delivered by Bridgend to achieve its vision of a decarbonised, digitally connected smart county borough, including an aim to:

• Be a test bed for new energy system ideas and concepts; providing real-life case studies,
• Lead the decarbonisation agenda; by introducing new products and concepts to consumers,
• Attract new and existing energy and digitalisation businesses to trial ideas and grow within the county,
• Stimulate the local economy and develop employment opportunities through innovation and deployment of low carbon energy projects,
• Develop a joined-up approach to the energy transition engaging local academia, communities and businesses.

Bridgend has already hosted the delivery of some innovative energy projects:

• The Living Lab: Bridgend was one of the first areas to have homes in the Living Lab for early trials looking at energy usage within the home and conduct trials of innovative service offerings, within a real-world environment.
• FREEDOM: Wales and West Utilities, Western Power Distribution and PassivSystems delivered the FREEDOM (Flexible Residential Energy Efficiency Demand Optimisation and Management) project in Bridgend, which looked “…to better understand if hybrid heating systems are technically capable, affordable and attractive to customers as a way of heating homes.”