 So thanks for joining my name's Randolph. I'm head of innovation at ENA and today We're going to be telling you all about our network innovation competition call for ideas So if we could just go on to the first slide, please So just housekeeping before we we get into it as you can probably see from the participants list We've got quite a lot of people joining the call today So if you could stay on mute the whole time that would be greatly appreciated There will be a question and answer answer session later However, we're going to use the chat box for that So hopefully you'll be able to go to the show conversation box in teams Feel free to type your questions in there You can type them as as we go along through the initial presentations and then we will we will get to them at the end Any that we don't have time for today, we will follow up with after the webinar However, we do have at least an hour for Q&A. So Hopefully we'll be able to get through everyone's questions We might ask some people to speak and bring you off mute if we need clarification on a question Number of people we will try and stick to the chat box as much as possible, please So in terms of agenda, I'm going to give a brief introduction then we're going to hear from Emily at off-gem We are then going to hear from Frank Clifton on the required requirements for the call You'll then hear from Geraldine and some of our members on Reflections from previous years and then we're going to open it up to you guys. I notice that someone has already asked about Recording and no doubt someone will probably ask about slides as well So we will be recording it and also we will circulate the slides afterwards So that will follow up in an email with that So without further ado, if we can move on please So quick quick reminder in a we represent the gas and electricity networks in the UK and Ireland at transmission and distribution However, the network innovation competition That we're going to be talking about today is focused just on our electricity distribution members And that is because of how the innovation funding is working with the current regulatory regime The others have participated previously, but they're going into a new regime next year with a new Mechanism for larger projects. So you'll hear more about that outside of this call outside of this call If we move on please So just as a reminder the current innovation funding mechanisms for Rio one Which go up to 2023 for electricity distribution and for all of our other members Is ending at At the end of march next year There's two types of funding available network innovation allowance Which is for smaller innovation projects And these can be run at any period during the year And you can pitch them to e and a using our collaboration portal at any time However today as you can see circled we're focusing on the network innovation competition Which is an annual competition that we we hold and off-gem signs off on For larger projects and we'll talk about what that actually means a bit later So if we move on to the next slide, please So just as a reminder for some of the information sources All of our previous projects including the network innovation and competition projects Can be found on our smarter networks portal So highly recommend that you jump on that Have a look at what previous projects we run have run and what they actually look like We also have our any ni collaboration portal. This is where you can pitch your innovation projects to the networks For the ni a projects, you can pitch these at any period during the year And obviously we are running the call for ideas now and many of you probably heard about that through that portal And just finally I can announce now publicly that Our energy networks innovation conference, which is replacing our old low carbon networks innovation conference or LC and i conference This is going to be held virtually, of course on the 8th and 9th of december And it's going to be encompassing all of our members. So it will be T and D gas and a leg And that's going to be the enduring model going forward. Obviously, hopefully it will be in person as well Next year, but this year will be digital Tickets haven't quite opened for that, but they will be opening shortly We could move on please We could move on please I'm now going to hand over to emily sito from off-gem Who's going to give us a bit of an introduction To to the innovation funding from an off-gem perspective. So over to you emily Thanks very much randolph. Hello everyone. My name is emily sito and as randolph said i'm from off-gem I work specifically in the strategy and decarbonization team You can imagine that this area Has mushroomed over the last year and a half or so And we've got some particular eyes on in terms of, you know, our attention to innovation and what we would hope innovation would How and how we hope innovation would would help with decarbonization I'd like to thank randolph and the ena for for organizing this webinar as well as for this slot And my goal today is to give you a brief orientation to off-gems approach to innovation Next slide please So the first item I'd like to cover is is actually to reinforce our commitment to innovation This is a summary of our Recent strategy documents going back to july 2019 In our strategic narrative. We stated that decarbonization Of gb's energy system at lowest cost to consumers is is one of our primary goals This sits alongside equally with our mission, which is to protect the interests of consumers All of which we view as being enabled through competition and and innovation In october 2019 We issued our consumer vulnerability strategy Which includes a a section that articulates Some extremely good principles around considering how innovation affects vulnerable populations As well as some some pitfalls that we've we've seen So I encourage all innovators To to read this and to consider it in particular chapter seven. It's about four pages So, please do have a look at that and and more more recently in february of this year We published our decarbonization action plan which offered some more tangible actions against Against innovation including including establishing a strategic innovation fund and expanding our regulatory sandbox Next slide, please thanks, so this is a Landscape if you will these are all the the types of innovation delivery vehicles That that off-gem has i'm not going to cover everything and indeed two of these columns the ones with some highlights in red are Under proposal and allude to to areas that round off earlier said are not necessarily for For discussion today But I would what I'd like to do is talk first about the orange column the innovation link This is a service that is open to all innovators There puts a couple particular products if you will under the service including fast frank feedback Where if you've got a question you email it in we try to get to it in a fast frank way We have a regulatory sandbox where we can help explore easement of rules to for innovation purposes and for experimentation if you will and we offer also comfort letters We understand that early stage innovation can be highly risky and innovators may need confirmation that a certain activity is permissible As well as we offer insights based on our you know our experience I'd like to say that there are no funding opportunities associated with with the with the link But to engage with us also has no cost We hope that this you know benefits the entire energy landscape and innovators from from all sectors This is demand led that means it is mostly reactionary to to to however innovators choose to approach us There has been a refresh of the sandbox summer of of this year And I've included links there both to the sandbox generally as well as to that updated Oh, sorry to the link general as well as to the updated sandbox guidance Now within the price control Um I'll I'll just say again in those first and third columns that these are proposals for the next regulatory period as applies to electricity transmission and gas And those links actually in particular for the electric distribution sector specific methodology consultation, which is currently closed But if you'd like to understand a bit more you can look at those later And of course you're here today to hear from The team about the network innovation competition In the ed1 period and that itself is the middle column I'm not going to touch on details because you'll get that today throughout the session And lastly in the purple Off-gem through environmental programs and in particular the energy company obligation We administer an innovation application innovation component of of eco Okay, great next slide, please So I am currently developing off the back of all this an innovation narrative to inform markets and innovators Clearly where off-gem sees the need for innovation in its role for innovation in the journey to net zero This will build on the previous Documents that that I've mentioned Um, it's something that I'm working with internally and I'm also going to speak with our network companies about to get their views Uh, I would hope that some innovators would also like to be Uh, might also like to be including that conversation. So I've included my my contact details If you have any questions about anything I've said or, you know, potentially, uh, would would like to, um, speak with me Next slide And this is a statement of off-gems, uh, core core purpose and and values and and I very much so look forward To to seeing the fantastic ideas that that you bring to the table as innovators and and the projects that will come through in in the in the current upcoming round of the of the nick Thanks very much Next slide. I think it's Fantastic many. Thanks, Emily. That was appreciated and and really good to have off-gem support Uh, for everyone else Emily is going to be staying on for the rest of the call So if you have any questions questions specifically off-gem Again, feel free to ask them in the chat and we can pick them up in the q&a a bit later So the call for ideas, uh for next year, which we are starting this year and that's why it's 2020 2021 So it's open to all third parties. Um, so all of you guys SMEs startups innovators manufacturers whoever is we we want to hear from everyone As I said, we're focusing specifically on dno's this year because because of how the rio funding pots fall We want to develop higher quality innovation projects. This is not just a sales pitch We really want to deliver really interesting innovative projects that deliver for our for our customers There's up to 70 million available Ultimately the decision is made by off-gem, but that that is the maximum amount available We have a specific focus on certain areas this year Including those from our innovation strategy, which I'll talk about in a minute But I guess one of the key points we want to know is is this year we We really are taking an uh some additional steps to support To support you guys to support applicants and really drive home really good quality Interesting projects. So you'll see a bit later. We're offering a range of support. Obviously we've got this webinar All of the dno's are open open to for you to come and chat with them throughout the Throughout the tendering period Whether that's either with me in a group with one-on-one discussions with them But also this year for the projects that we decide to take forward to interview We're going to be Hosting a range of one-on-one sessions between the networks and and the potential projects to help them develop and craft their pitch for those interviews So that we can really give you guys a lot more guidance on what a good pitch looks like And really I guess increase the quality and and substance to some of those projects So we'll be offering that service in terms of when we offer that you'll see a bit later in the timeline So if we just move on to the next one, thank you very much So this is some of the the high level criteria that we're looking for Frank from sse is going to go into a bit more detail in a minute But basically the key thing and the number one thing you should think about is that The projects must meet the eligibility eligibility criteria set out in the n i c governance document Which is available on off jams website. We have the link specifically to it in at the end of the slide deck and useful links It's absolutely essential that you read this and understand what is eligible and what is not We have a range of priority focus areas as I said, and I'm going to talk a bit more about that on the next slide We are also looking for people who are open to collaboration with others What we found last year is while some individual projects could be taken forward There was quite a lot of overlap between different people with different ideas. So there's potentially the option this year to bring different parties together to collaborate on a project specifically where there's Overlap between different ideas that come forward and off jams quite keen to see that collaboration and joint way of working again We're also looking for innovators who are willing to fund the big cost. You can't recover the costs For bidding so you need to to commit to doing that And also contribute some funding towards the the project We think it's only fair when we're spending customers money That people have a bit of skin in the game as well And also in terms of the size of projects which often comes up We're looking for longer duration projects. So not You know three four five six months spoons. We're looking for longer projects two to three years And in terms of budget, we're looking for Over two million anything below that is probably likely to be an NIA project So using the other funding pot. We're looking for the bigger projects If we just move on please So what are what are we focusing on this year? So we launched a electricity network innovation strategy along alongside a gas one Earlier this year in March, which has a range of key Themes and principles which you can see on the right hand side there So we are interested in projects that any of these themes But specifically we're interested in those that address meeting net zero and Helping us progress along the pathway to net zero, but also those that address customer vulnerability Those are the key focus areas for us this year While we are definitely going to be accepting all options and and all ideas from the other themes Those are our specific aims this year and that ties in very well with what Emily was saying And what is going to be the focus for innovation? Within Rio too going forward as well. So it lines up nicely with that You can access our strategy document on our website the links here also in the back of the slide deck Again, highly recommend that you read this as well as the governance document If we just move on please So at this point, I'm going to hand over to my colleague Frank Clifton from SSEN and just a reminder to frank to introduce yourself as well, please Thanks, Randolph. Good afternoon. My name is Frank Clifton. I'm an innovation manager at Scotch and Silvernell transit networks Been involved in quite a number of our NIC projects and I see quite a number if I'm not going to face on it On the attendance list here. So thanks to everyone for joining us Just just a bit of an overview as to what the requirements are for for an NIC project As Randolph said one of the key things is actually addressing some industry Challenges and those are set out and articulated very well in the network innovation strategy document and there's a link there It's a fairly readable Indigestible document So I would encourage everyone to read it. It's fairly clear. I think you'll see a lot of familiar territory in there One of the kind of feedback we've got from other things We've got lots and lots and lots of interesting ideas submitted to us in previous years, but there's not enough Thought really been given beyond what is that interesting piece? It's about what turns out a demonstration in a project and produce an outcome Which is then beneficial to to GB customers So the sorts of things that need to go into that are water in these next set of requirements So what we really want to see some evidence that we've actually thought through what we're going to spend the money on what the project's for Excuse the helicopter What the project's for what the project's actually going to deliver how it's going to be delivered What the outcomes will be and how we're going to achieve those outcomes And whilst it doesn't need to be tied down in specific detail some thought of that process needs to be set out When we're talking about value for money for customers, that's really looking at what the benefits of the project might be And actually identifying that the money we're looking for the trial is proportionate to those benefits And the project is going to be run efficiently, effectively, we prop our prudent governance procurement and all of those good things It's got to be generating new knowledge. We kind of this cannot be about duplicating someone that's been done before So it's got to be about someone that's not been trialled before Obviously it needs to be innovative. In this context of NIC what it means by innovative is why is this not being funded for a company's BAU activities And that usually means because it's not proven It's got too much press What are you doing? All right Um, so it it needs to be a reminder if everyone can go on mute Thank you um It's got to be We're talking about being innovative. That means not being able to be funded by BAU because there's no there's no mechanism for it There's no allowance for it. It's too risky. There's no guarantee or return Or never been done before. That's what's meant by being being an industry. Ideally it should be fairly broad We have a number of partners involved and hopefully ideally get some leverage some funding from some other source So in the past we've leveraged funding from any of the UK industrial strategy challenge funds, ERDF and quite a number of places to Extend the the range and range of the project beyond the additional network boundaries But most importantly I think and I think this is Probably one of the more crucial things is it's got to provide a benefit to network customers and by network customers That's customers would pay due us charges It needs to provide a financial benefit to those over between now and 2050 Just moved to the next slide to the end So in terms of in terms of eligibility the eligibility criteria I've set out in the NIC governance document As Randolph said earlier it's quite important you'll read that and actually understand what's involved It's fairly lengthy but worthwhile doing it. I'd also add On off James website there are some feedback documents on previous year's competitions And I think there's some good feedback for the expert panel on their Views on why projects have been funded and why projects have failed So again, that's quite a good place to look to get a sense of what's needed So I think we can probably write links to those as well Randolph if we could So there's three main sets of criteria one is the direct impact on networks And then I'll describe what we need to do. It's a two-stage submission process There's an initial submission which will take place February March next year Which is a fairly short submission to two of Jim to To outline the project idea what the benefits will be What who's involved what we're trying to do what we're trying to achieve And I'll be assessed but by off Jim another Approved or not If it's approved we then need to go and develop this full submission performer Which is quite a chunky piece of work. It's a hundred-node page document with a full financial model program program plan budget Outputs funding etc identified. It's a fairly substantial piece of work And that will probably have to be submitted July August in 2021 Before it goes on the assessment process So just talk through the direct what's meant by the direct impact on networks Do you want to skip to the next slide there again? So what are three or four main criteria there? So it needs to be a new piece of equipment something It's not been tried on the GB system or is on proven on the GB system And that can be control communication software hardware So as soon as pass that's included Of the other types of scotch power of the project looking at different types of transformers an LV engine E&W have looked at different types of voltage control equipment We have looked at equipment for maintaining resilience So it can cover quite a broad range of stuff It could be a A novel arrangement of our application existing technology in a different way So if we are looking at resilience project resilience as a service It's looking at using existing technology in a different way to help maintain network resilience Or it can be a novel operational practice Relating to the operation of the system or a novel commercial arrangement Most projects have got an element of novel commercial arrangements in them Because we can prove the technology as much as we want Unless we've got a mechanism for actually deploying that and realizing the benefits from that technology It's kind of pointless doing this So really the business model for realizing the benefits Is actually a fairly crucial piece of the piece of the jigsaw It needs to be articulated to justify the funding So giving some thoughts to how you get for that Interesting idea Interesting worthwhile idea To actually deploying it and realizing it To benefit GB customers Does need a bit of thinking through and just a bit of creativity as to how we're going to get there Do you want to skip the next slide there? Vivian So in a short term, Randolph or one of my colleagues will outline the process We're going to go through to get there But the first submission of GEM like I said is this initial submission ISP It's called and that's likely to be February time next year It's a fairly short document to be clear about 10 pages And there's four kind of criteria we need to articulate very clearly in that document What does this do to accelerate the development of the low carbon energy sector Deliver environmental benefits and or financial benefits for existing and future customers So how's that going to help us achieve net zero and how's it going to benefit customers? We need to set that out really really clearly And being clear on that is absolutely critical Getting that point across is crucial to getting on the next stage Then we got to describe how much money we want and why that's value for customers Again, that's related back to that benefits point Why it's new network and why it can be applied across the whole lgb And then probably more fairly importantly why it's innovative Why is this need not being done as be you by either you as an innovator or us as a network And why does it need the support of customers to them to justify this demonstration Thinking through those things is pretty clear So when you submit the idea just please think through what these points actually mean How your technology or your approach is actually going to get us there Interesting it's not enough we need to get to have a sort of so what at the end of the project To realise the benefits we want for that okay And then finally Vivian if we get through that ISP Look I'm generally take two or three weeks to assess those We then Just want to go to the next slide Vivian please And then finally for the full submission Let's say that's about 100 pages with a fully costed plan And budget financial model etc It's a fairly onerous piece of work It's about 100 not pages like I said We need to set out who will be involved in the project And what are the fundings coming to bear Relevance and timing is why are we doing this project now When will it produce the outputs So it's no good producing an output to a project Which is a project produced now An outcome to a problem which is here today And we need to be getting make sure the problems are being solved In time for our networks to implement the solutions And then we actually need to set out what we're going to do with the money By having a robust methodology and a plan to show We can actually make a successful job of delivering that project It's a fairly onerous piece of work But there are a lot of examples online of what's needed to be done I think there's a fair degree of experience amongst the network community And many of you folks on the call where we can work together So as Randolph said When we get past that selection stage We want to put more input to help guide and shape The ISP submissions with those projects And I think that's going to help us get a much richer and more successful portfolio project So I think I'm handing across to Geraldine now, is that correct Yeah Frank, so I'm Geraldine Patterson I'm the Innovation Manager at Electricity Northwest And like Frank I'd like to echo my thanks for you all to join us today It's good to see so many people on the call I might recap a little bit of what Frank's just said As well regarding the timeline and stuff But it is quite important that you understand the level of work involved And putting one of these together So the top of the slide there shows the timeline for the current call that we've got out So we're currently in the sort of first phase Of it we're asking for your ideas And we've covered this webinar today To basically give you the chance to ask us some questions To help you formulate the submissions you're going to make to us By the end of the month We will then go away, review all those And come up with a short list of those that we think are viable projects To go in to the process next year And then we will ask those shortlisted participants to come and pitch to us Well it would then directly come and pitch to us I suppose this year would be a virtual pitch To us to explain in more detail Give us a chance to find out a little bit more about it Than you can from a piece of paper And then by the middle of December Well the 18th on there We will be announcing the decision of which projects we're taking forward And by that point as well We should also know which DNO is our interest And in which to take in which project forward Which may be more than one DNO for projects as we've had in previous years So the bottom line is actually the timeline then For the actual next submission next year So as Frank said The first big milestone is putting the initial screening proposal Into off-gen which is normally early April And it is as he said a 10 page document But it contains quite a lot of important information To get across and get through that hurdle Of this is actually something worth us putting a bigger bid together for And normally by May then off-gen We'll let us know whether or not we've passed that stage And then it's on to do the full submission Which as Frank says is actually a very large 100 page document And the first half of the document is very prescribed sections With the various questions and the guidance criteria to answer And then we do have the second sort of half of the document To put appendices in To sort of further give further information Further bolster the sort of case that we're putting forward Has to have a full business case Where the project plan has to be well thought out And then once that gets submitted Normally about the end of July We then enter into what we call the Q&A process And that can run from then right through till about this time And the one for this year is more or less just concluded And in that process we can receive questions from Is either off-gen they employ an expert panel And they have some consultants that review these bids And they can ask us questions every Tuesday and Thursday And you normally have a two day turnaround time To respond back to the answers That being said in our case this year We got quite a few questions on one particular day And we were allowed to make extra time other than the two days So if you do get a lot of questions There may be some chance to delay That they're sort of a bit longer to respond But also during that Q&A process In September we normally have two bilaterals With the expert panel The first one is normally early September And the second one sort of late September And the first one is normally very high level And you introduce the project They get to ask you some questions to understand a bit more And the second one is a bit more focused Of some particular questions Or particular areas that are like some more informational And once you've gone through that process You then get the chance to resubmit your bid To make any minor corrections or additions As a result of that process And then it's a waiting game Till the end of November to when the decisions announced And normally when the decisions announced then You go into sort of getting all the various paperwork in place And projects normally start in earnest In the January of the following year So this call we're putting at the moment Is probably looking for projects to actually start In January 2022 So if you could just move to the next slide Please Vivian So we wanted to give you some reflections on previous years And a lot of the past successful projects Are all available online So off-gem do publish all the redacted bid submission documents So they're all available Off-gem also publish their decision document The link to the 2019 one Is there for you to look at when you receive the slides You will notice in the 2019 one Two successful projects The DC share one and the resilience of the service Both came through this process And the DC share one Although it is aligned to Western power We as electricity north-west are actually another partner on that project Because both of us were interested In the project when it came through the call But WPD are in as the lead And we're in as a supporting partner So the process does work And we have taken projects right through to successful That we're starting to deliver them now But they do need to as Frank has said To be something that's very deliverable And that the network actually needs So if you'd like to go to the next slide Please Vivian So I think Some reflections that we've had back from off-gem in previous years Make sort of Echo some of the things you've already heard today So it's the robustness of the methodology And the implementation of the project And also what you think it's going to do afterwards These projects are normally Such a way that by the end of it We're effectively more or less going straight into business As usual and rolling them out Previous projects that sort of We are already starting to roll out And don't want it to be too broad It needs to be deliverable within the time frame It's not about boiling the oceans It's about solving a particular problem And the benefits is the big one is that GB customers All GB customers pay for this through their due us charges So we need to provide evidence that The benefits will flow back to the GB customers Through their due us charges So and you normally have to sort of As Frank says that the benefits need to justify the spend on the project And you need to show the benefits of out to 2050 Both financially and because of the net zero The carbon benefits as well We've had some in the past where they said It wasn't innovative enough It wasn't value for money But that's about how you sort of Pitch the project also but not doing replication They say there's plenty of information Both on the off-gem website And on the ENA smart networks portal Of the types of innovation that have gone on before And then it's the getting back to the benefits again It's it is the electric