CAG’s expertise in evaluating energy projects and our specialist knowledge of the energy grid comes together in this new project. We have been chosen to undertake the Summative Assessment for Centrica plc’s Cornwall Local Energy Market project (LEM). LEM is an EU-funded pioneering initiative involving the development of a virtual marketplace. The trial is testing a platform with homes and businesses which can buy and sell energy and flexibility to both the supply networks and the wholesale energy market. The project’s overarching aim is to demonstrate that the electricity distribution network can facilitate an increased penetration of renewable / low carbon electricity generation by invoking novel strategies including flexibility.
The £19m, three-year trial is being delivered in partnership with the local distribution network operator Western Power Distribution, alongside National Grid, University of Exeter, Imperial College London, and two other partners. It is being funded by Centrica and the British Gas Energy for Tomorrow Fund, alongside a £13m grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF under the ESIF Growth Programme 2014-20). The LEM Project is the largest private sector ERDF funded project in the ESIF Programme for England.
This exciting programme is already providing major findings that can inform the Government, National Grid, and regulators about how the UK can best develop new and effective markets for flexible energy. Further information, including a short film and a LEM grid animation, are available here.