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Energy

Solutions for flexible clean power

Understand the technological and market solutions which aim to ensure that low-carbon electricity systems retain the resilience and flexibility of those based on conventional sources.

2 days

Members: £1,095 + VAT
Non-members: £1,350 + VAT

"The transition to a smarter and more flexible energy system is an opportunity. It will reduce the costs of our system by up to £10bn a year by 2050, by reducing the amount of generation and network we need to build to meet peak demand.”

- Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan 2021, UK Government (BEIS) & Ofgem, July 2021

Course Location & Date
Solutions for flexible clean power

N/A

Members:
£1,095.00 Plus vat
Non Members:
£1,350.00 Plus vat

Summary

Understand the technological and market solutions which aim to ensure that low-carbon electricity systems retain the resilience and flexibility of those based on conventional sources.

While low-carbon generators such as solar or wind often offer the cheapest sources of electricity generation these days, the electricity system within which they sit needs solutions to balance their variable supply with that of end-use demands. 

Discussion of those solutions can often become almost ideological, with strong opinions often tending towards single or dominant preferred solutions. The reality is that multiple solutions can and do exist, that the technologies driving them are fast evolving, and that such solutions will certainly co-exist in the market.

This course will help attendees understand the system flexibility options which exist, both at an individual power plant level and within an integrated, full system context. It will describe flexibility solutions over the full range of different timeframes and scales, including where they compete and where they will complement each other.

As a result it will enable attendees to navigate the pathways already in play, along with those likely to emerge, in order to identify new business models and opportunities, and new threats or risks to their existing activities.
 

Who should attend?

This course will benefit business and product strategists, developers and planners, and anyone else responsible for assessing the opportunities and risks that the shift to a low carbon electricity system brings to their business.

How will I benefit?

After the course you will be able to

  • Describe what ‘flexibility’ really means in a power system context, including timeframe and scale requirements
  • List and critically assess the different solutions to flexibility in clean power systems, both currently available and emerging
  • Understand what a fully decarbonised power system might look like, and whether (and when) it can really be achieved
  • Describe the various barriers to clean power flexibility and hence identify the opportunities for new solutions to overcome them
  • Critically discuss the competitive and market positioning of different proposed flexibility solutions
  • Apply your learning to better critique the product and service proposals that your own company or competitors are making in the sector
 
Contributes 14 CPD hours

Key topics

  • Defining flexibility in power systems: timeframes and operational drivers
  • The flexibility of existing clean power supply options, including ‘variable’ renewable power
  • The emergence of ‘dispatchable’ solar and wind power options
  • Trends and solutions for electricity storage at different scales
  • Electricity storage business models
  • The role of power-to-gas and power-to-fuel solutions, in particular hydrogen
  • Clean fuel substitution in conventional (thermal) power plants, for example hydrogen/natural gas
  • Carbon capture as an option for conventional thermal power
  • The evolution of nuclear power, including expectations for small modular reactors (SMRs)
  • Flexibility from distributed power assets, including aggregation and virtual power plants
  • Demand-side flexibility, including the role of large electricity users, hydrogen producers and fleets of electric vehicles
 

Mapped against UK- SPEC competencies: A, B and E

  1. Knowledge and understanding - For Chartered Engineers: ‘Use a combination of general and specialist engineering knowledge and understanding to optimize the application of existing and emerging technology’ For Incorporated Engineers: ‘Use a combination of general and specialist mechanical engineering knowledge and understanding to apply existing and emerging technology’
  2. Design and development of processes, systems, services and products - For Chartered Engineers: ‘Apply appropriate theoretical and practical methods to the analysis and solution of mechanical engineering problems’ For Incorporated Engineers ‘Apply appropriate theoretical and practical methods to design, develop, manufacture, construct commission, operate, maintain, decommission and re-cycle mechanical engineering processes, systems, services and products’
  3. Professional commitment - For Incorporated and Chartered Engineers: ‘Demonstrate a personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the profession and the environment’

Meet our trainers

These trainers regularly teach Solutions for flexible clean power.

  • John Massey

    John Massey

    Dr John Massey is an internationally renowned energy communicator and business educator, focused on the interconnected decarbonisation topics of renewable power, energy storage, CCUS and hydrogen.

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At a glance

  • Duration:
    2 days
  • CPD Hours:
    14
  • UK-Spec:
    A, B, E

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