Damiete Emmanuel-Yusuf and Walter Wehrmeyer
27th October 2022
Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) are one of the key energy system components in the UK’s Net Zero future (BEIS, 2021). Therefore, avenues to upscale these systems and increase their deployment levels need to be determined and implemented. This is even more crucial given the current energy crises, with rapid gas price inflation and a global transition to Net Zero.
The main report here presents four key pathways to the upscaling of SLES, derived from a Transition map. The key pathways are the Local authority and Case study pathways in the set-up phase and the Economic competitiveness and Grid technology pathways in the growth phase of SLES.
A briefing report summarises the main report and the 4 case studies are presented in separate reports.
The pathways have been assessed by SLES practitioners and mapped onto four case studies. This provided practical insights specific to each pathway and general recommendations for upscaling SLES, such as the importance of national policies like the UK Government’s Net Zero Target, the need for statutory powers for Local authorities and strategic partnerships with commercial companies as well as supportive market structures and effective community engagement.
Thus, the pathways are useful tools for mapping and assessing case studies and can also be used as models to guide the setting-up and upscaling of SLES systems.