Page 37 - Gi September2020

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THE ENERGY NETWORKS ACCELERATE

THE UK’S RACE TO NET ZERO CARBON

A GROUND-BREAKING Innovation
Measurement Framework is set to
propel the UK energy industry towards
it net zero target.
The EIC (formerly the Energy
Innovation Centre), together with
the Energy Networks Association
(ENA), Ofgem and consultancy firm
Baringa, have supported the industry
in developing the world’s first industry
wide Innovation Measurement
Framework (IMF). This, they claim, will
help tackle one of the industry’s biggest
challenges – decarbonisation.
The new dashboard-driven framework
goes beyond assessing financial benefits
to incorporate societal, environmental
and cultural impact measures. THE IMF DASHBOARD
Innovation projects that may not have
met ROI targets before, but had wider innovation projects that have failed. to reach its net zero carbon target and
societal and environmental benefits, “Innovation strategies cease to be recover from the current crisis.
will now have a transparent rationale to innovative if they are too risk averse. “As the UK energy sector and
be taken forward. The IMF looks at innovation in the SMEs adapt to new ways of working
The simple dashboard enables third round, from strategy and culture through following the Covid-19 outbreak, the
parties to access and understand the to failing fast, collaborating with others need for a more holistic approach to
total effect of an innovation. Ofgem and embedding innovation into business innovation measurement has never
and other third-party stakeholders will as usual. It fosters a more balanced been more important. This project
also have clear sight of the innovation and holistic picture of how network captures everything we stand for at
pipeline across all networks. companies are driving innovation.” the EIC: encouraging collaboration,
Duncan Sinclair, Partner of Energy Denise Massey, Managing Director at supporting positive change within the
Retail and Networks at Baringa, the EIC, said: “We are facing a climate industry, and being the voice of the
said: “Previous attempts to measure emergency that we will only overcome innovator community.
innovation have tended to focus narrowly by working together. The Innovation “The EIC has handed over the
on demonstrating positive economic Measurement Framework aligns the framework to ENA to ensure that the
benefits. But not all innovation succeeds, interests of all stakeholders in order to framework is embedded as business as
and as much can be learned from accelerate innovation, helping the UK usual across all energy networks.”

a great asset for us.” has trained for exactly this job. We’ve
Rachel Endfield, Business had them in the North West network for
Improvement Specialist in Cadent’s two days now, the first time we’ve used
North West network, whose idea it them, and we’ve seen some fantastic
was to bring the dogs to the North results already.”
West, said: “When water is getting Steve Foster, whose dogs have worked
into a customer’s gas supply, it can be on over 200 jobs since switching to gas
extremely difficult to locate the source detection work in 2017, said: “Some
of the ingress. Sometimes it can be escapes can be really, really difficult to
like looking for a needle in a haystack. find. The dogs’ noses are thought to be
Water will get in through the tiniest of anywhere between 10,000 and 100,000
cracks, which can cause problems for times better than a human’s nose. So,
our customers. It can stop gas getting they can find minute amounts of gas.
through and they could lose supply. That can be all you need, the golden
“We’re determined to find innovative nugget the engineers need to start with.”
ways to tackle this and prevent our
customers from losing supply. I’d heard See the sniffer dogs in action at our
about the gas detection dogs that Steve video channel IGEMtv. Visit bit.ly/IGEM-tv ONE OF THE DOGS IN ACTION

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