Earlier this year, ClimateXChange commissioned research on the status of near-to-market energy efficiency, heat generation and smart technologies. The research will inform the Scottish Government on these technologies’ potential suitability in Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP).

CAG led the smart technology report, working in partnership with Smarter Grid Solutions. Broadly speaking, smart technologies are seen as enabling flexibility in parts of the energy system that have previously been inflexible – for example, flexing demand to low carbon generation patterns (as opposed to flexing fossil fuelled generation to demand patterns) or facilitating active participation of customers in understanding and controlling energy consumption, or letting intelligent devices do this for them.  We don’t yet know quite how ‘smart’ a smart energy system will be; it is still very much in its evolutionary phase.  This technology landscaping exercise provides an idea of what we might expect to see and experience over the next decade or so.

The three technology landscaping studies will feed into the Research and Development workstream of SEEP. Ultimately, the application of emerging technologies will help steer the direction of SEEP as a long-term programme of investment.

The report, along with individual technology scorecards, can be accessed here.