The LEAR was part of efforts to develop a Smart Local Energy Systems in Coventry including a local energy market that would benefit residents with reduced energy prices, increased jobs and investment, and clean growth.

The Coventry LEAR was developed with funding from the “Prospering from the Energy Revolution” Challenge Fund through the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – with projects in Coventry, Rugeley and Sandwell.

Coventry City Council wanted to explore ways of generating and storing low-carbon energy on a city-wide scale, such as harnessing unused energy in electric vehicles, as well as integrating large scale, clean energy assets.

The LEAR provided visual representations of local energy systems by collating and processing data, including an understanding of the buildings in the local area, their annual and peak energy demands and the energy networks that serve them. In particular, the Coventry LEAR focused on street by street visualisations on the potential for solar PV and off-street parking to charge electric vehicles.

“The Local Energy Asset Representation has been really helpful to the SLES project in Coventry. It gives us an indication of the current scale and potential for photovoltaic solar and off-street parking, both important when considering local electricity generation and the geographical impact of electric vehicles in the project area. So it is great to see the Catapult continually developing this analysis.”

Dr Grant Wilson, Head of the Energy Data Analytics Group, University of Birmingham

West Midlands Regional Energy System Operator

The York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (YNY LEP) needed  a LEAR to support their vision for achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and milestone of 78% reduction by 2035.

Five local authorities in the area have declared a climate emergency setting challenging decarbonisation targets up to twenty years ahead of that target. YNY LEP area covers well over 8,000 km2 and has a population of around 825,000 people.

YNY LEP requested their LEAR provide an understanding of the building stock in the local area by geographic location, including analysis of:

• Types of dwellings including building fabric
• Types of heating systems
• Annual and peak energy demands
• Potential for domestic on-roof solar PV and off-street parking for electric vehicle charging
• An assessment of energy networks that serve them including capacity and embedded generation.

The LEAR also provided information on the levels of employment and deprivation correlating to the building by building assessment in each area.

The Milford Haven: Energy Kingdom project is developing local markets to support the transition to hydrogen and renewables for a cluster of major energy infrastructure, including: Liquified Natural Gas terminals, RWE’s 2.2GW gas-fired power plant and National Grid gas pipelines stretching to Kent and Aberdeenshire.

Energy Systems Catapult is providing Energy Kingdom with expert Systems Engineering support to develop an energy system architecture for a Smart Local Energy System that meets local residents heating and transportation needs.

A LEAR was funded under the “Prospering from the Energy Revolution” Challenge Fund through the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.