As ABC’s mission is set to be boosted by joining Energy Systems Catapult, ABC’s Head of Corporate Affairs Chris Brierley caught up with ESC’s Chief Executive Officer Guy Newey …
CHRIS:
Guy, what attracted you to continuing the Active Building Centre mission around decarbonising the built environment ?
GUY:
For me, the challenge of decarbonising buildings is one of the toughest innovation challenges we have. But, I also passionately believe it is one of the greatest opportunities we have, especially for innovators. There is so much synergy between the work of ABC and ESC and by joining our collective expertise together, we can build on our achievements and accelerate the uptake of active buildings and their role in making the future energy system work. ESC has led the work on things like local area energy planning, local energy systems and testing how a smart grid would actually work in practice through the partnership between our 1700-home Living Lab and and the Power Networks Demonstration Centre at Strathclyde University.. If we don’t come up with answers the consumer likes and want, change won’t happen. I’m really interested in developing the work ABC has done with the construction industry, helping to transform both domestic and non-domestic buildings. What I like is, both ABC and ESC are centred around the integration challenge especially focusing on how digital technology can improve things for everyone.
CHRIS:
For those who don’t know what is ESC and what do you do ?
GUY:
I say to staff at ESC that this is the place where they can do some of the most exciting and rewarding work of their careers. This is because our job is to tackle the hardest challenges on the road to a Net Zero energy system – and those challenges are multi-faceted and always changing. Energy Systems Catapult is one of nine Catapults across 50 locations in the UK. The Catapults are independent, not-for-profit, innovation organisations with the mission of helping companies develop new products and services across a variety of sectors. We have the very best of the UK’s businesses, scientists, technical specialists and engineers working side by side on research and development. When it comes to ESC, we focus on some of the knottiest problems for the energy system; how you decarbonise homes and buildings, how you help different parts of the country move to a low carbon economy and how you make sure this future system works. We provide technical, commercial and policy expertise to help drive that innovation across the whole energy system. We take a technology-agnostic approach and we’ve built a track record in delivering thought leadership, collaborative R&D and commercial commissions. We have some amazing people who are taking on the tough questions and challenges around energy systems integration, modelling, policy, the digitalisation of the energy system. We use this knowledge and expertise to support the innovators working on real-world projects.
CHRIS:
In your opinion, what has been ESCs biggest innovation success so far?
GUY:
There is so much good work going on within the Energy Systems Catapult so it’s hard to pick just one! I’m really proud of our Living Lab, We created it as a means to offering a quick, safe and affordable, real-world test environment to de-risk and scale innovations by running trials directly with consumers in their homes. We have over 1,700 digitally connected smart-homes, spread across England, Scotland and Wales with a variety of property types and demographics. The Living Lab is digitally open, interoperable and scalable, with room-by-room sensors and a digital integration platform innovations can be tested with mainstream smart meters, IoT devices, smart heating controls, battery storage, solar PV and electric vehicle chargers. What I love about the Labs is that they are providing a national capability to test and demonstrate what can be done now with real consumers. Through the Labs we are working with businesses who can then rapidly design, market-test and launch smart energy products, services and business models. So, for me, I think creating and delivering this has to be one of our proudest achievements. And it is part of the reason why bringing in the additional ABC expertise on buildings and smart technology is so exciting.
CHRIS:
What opportunities do you think could be on the horizon for ESC to accelerate the uptake of active buildings?
GUY:
Linking up ESC’s insights on the wider energy system and consumers with the work that ABC has been doing with real world construction projects, is an incredible opportunity. Whether that’s the new builds at Marleigh or the work with Welsh Government on the Cross Hands Development, there is so much we can do by bringing these capabilities together. It’s such a great opportunity to build on the ABC legacy to provide even greater support for innovators who want to transform construction. That is why we are super excited to host the ABC Blueprint, take on board the expertise of the team, and utilise the experience and learning garnered over the last few years. ABC has done some good work with housing associations, construction and the renewable technology suppliers. We want to build on this as it links in nicely with our work at ESC on Local Area Energy plans, as well as our work to decarbonise energy systems both within homes as well as non-domestic sites, including the public sector estate. Going forward, we will develop and build upon the ABC Blueprint, especially focusing on supporting businesses to research, develop, test, and launch interoperable zero carbon energy solutions. The road to Net Zero is a technology challenge, an integration challenge, a system challenge and a consumer challenge and I know the opportunities are immense. I look forward to ESC being at the heart of the next phase of active buildings as part of the wider energy systems integration that we’ve been leading on.
CHRIS:
ABC was born in Wales. The Welsh government seems to be doing a lot in the Net Zero space and is quite forward thinking in this arena – take for example the Future Generations and Wellbeing Act. What opportunity do you think there is for ESC to do more in this space?
GUY:
Like ABC, we are proud of the work we are doing within Wales as it is as a nation that’s really pushing the Net Zero agenda and is innovating in this space. A range of long-term Catapult innovation projects are based in Wales, including work to decarbonise buildings, sites and local areas. These projects cover a real breadth of Wales from the town of Bridgend to the UK’s largest energy port in Milford Haven. As an organisation we have also been acting as technical advisor to the Welsh Government programme of rolling out Local Area Energy Planning across every local authority in the country. So, like ABC, we are invested in Wales and hope to continue to support the country in its desire to decarbonise and innovate.
Guy Newey was appointed Chief Executive Officer at Energy Systems Catapult, the innovation business, in June 2022. Guy joined the Catapult in 2018 as Director of Strategy after being an energy and political adviser to two UK Government Secretaries of State; Greg Clark and Amber Rudd. In Government, he was involved in many key decisions, including closing the UK’s coal-fired power stations, greater independence for the electricity system operator, and as an architect of the Clean Growth Strategy.
Before joining Government, he was Head of Policy at the challenger energy supplier, OVO Energy and Head of Environment and Energy at the influential think tank, Policy Exchange. He was previously a journalist, including three years as a foreign correspondent in Hong Kong for the international newswire, AFP. He is a non-executive director with UK100, a charity campaigning for greater environmental action by local authorities. He lives in Enfield, with his wife and two children.