The reality, even in countries considered to be ‘water-rich’ – such as the UK – is that future supplies are by no means guaranteed. The impact of climate change on the world’s water must not be underestimated – whether that’s the effect of increasingly hot and dry spells on water reserves or the damage and pollution that’s the result of storm-driven flash flooding. 

The environmental impact of our reliance on fossil fuels to generate energy is increasingly well-understood by consumers and industry alike. However there is much more limited awareness of the links between water consumption and climate change. 

Lost water is also a huge issue. Ofwat estimates that, in the UK, a fifth of treated water running through pipes is currently lost to leakage. Substantial resources must be deployed in finding and stopping major leaks, and many smaller leaks may go undetected, not only wasting water but potentially adding to water customer bills.

Meanwhile, modern usage of the UK’s water pipes and other assets simply do not match the expectations that were in place at the time the infrastructure was built, thanks to increased pressure from population growth, changing customer expectations and, again, climate change. 

Simply trying to build our way out of the problem is not a viable solution. It’s just too costly – both from a financial and a carbon perspective – time-consuming, and resource-intensive. There aren’t enough people or material resources in the UK to replace the entire UK infrastructure at the pace required to keep up with changing demands. 

So what’s the solution?

Instead, we have to think innovatively. Another solution is to make better use of existing data. Getting as many eyes as possible on as much water data as possible can facilitate diversity of thought and enable the innovation required, at speed and at scale. Stakeholders that Icebreaker One has spoken to have highlighted a wide range of benefits that could be achieved with better access to data. To highlight just a few use cases, better access to water data could help:

• Identify the rivers most in need of clean-up initiatives
• Predict asset failure based on analysis of previous faults
• Drive awareness among consumers of the link between water consumption and the environment, and encourage behaviour change.

In some cases, data alone might do away with the need for pricier interventions. In others, it will help target resources to the projects and places that are most in need.  

What water data is already available?

There is no shortage of water data. A search for ‘water’ on Icebreaker One’s Open Net Zero data directory returns several thousand data sources linked to water. Data Owners include national and international regulatory bodies – including the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), academic and research organisations, and, of course, water companies. 

However, it’s fair to say that while water companies hold a cornucopia of data, the amount that we’ve so far been able to surface via Open Net Zero is fairly limited. As outlined in Ofwat’s 2023 report on Open data in the water industry, to date the majority of water companies have published only a small amount of open water data (Wessex Water’s ‘Water Marketplace’ being one notable exception). The data that is available is often in formats that restrict its use: for example, ‘data’ is often published in the form of web interfaces or maps, rather than the underlying data being published via an API (ideally) or .xls/.csv file, for example. And, even when all water companies publish the same data, users typically have to seek it out on multiple, individual water company websites. 

While there are good reasons for water companies to keep some water data behind closed doors – data protection or national security concerns, for example – there’s plenty of other data that could be made openly, and usefully, available for analysis by industry, academics, campaigners, innovators and more. 

What needs to happen?

While water companies have been exploring innovative uses of data for several years, it’s typically been in the form of hackathons. This approach is exciting and has delivered real benefits, but it doesn’t work at scale. What’s needed is a hub for open water industry data, published in a central location, backed by clear data standards and licences, and supported by a Trust Framework. 

Cue the Stream initiative, an Ofwat-backed collaboration between 15 water companies in England and Wales, alongside partner organisations including Aimii, Icebreaker One, the ODI, and Sia Partners, who have come together to unlock the potential of water industry data. 

As Melissa Tallack, Co-Lead for Stream at Northumbrian Water, puts it: “If we were to put a label on what Stream is, it’s probably a data institution, helping people publish and consume water data for the express purpose of improving transparency, trust and innovation to deliver benefit to customers, society, the environment and the economy. It’s part of the national data sharing infrastructure of the UK and that’s why we always have interoperability at front-of-mind.

“It’s not the path of least resistance to get there. Going together is not as easy as each company going alone. But the 15 Water Companies who are currently a part of Stream are not doing all this for their convenience now. They are doing this for the long-term gain, to create a future path of least resistance for publishers and users alike so that data challenges never stand in the way of building transparency, trust and innovation.”

Through collaborating to make water company data openly accessible in a coordinated, consistent, standardised manner, Stream aims to essentially enable an uber-hack, without time constraints, that allows anyone, anywhere, to use that data to help solve the challenges faced by the water sector, industry as a whole, society, and the environment. 

To add a final quote from Melissa: “Can you imagine the potential impact that kind of scale could achieve in finding new insights and new ways to solve problems and generate value?”

Stream phase one

Over the last year, Stream partners – including Icebreaker One – have been working together to launch the first few Stream datasets. You can see the early fruits of our labours in the Beta launch of the Stream platform, here. 

But this is only the beginning. Over the coming months, water companies involved in Stream will be working to get more datasets ready for publication, so you can expect bigger and better things in the new year and beyond. 

Get involved in Stream
The data published on Stream is only as valuable as the challenges it helps to solve. We rely on potential users of water company data to tell us what problems they are trying to solve, and how water data can help. You can follow Stream’s progress on its LinkedIn page, or help us to shape the next phases of Stream by joining one of our advisory groups. Find out more at ib1.org/stream. 

This document is open for comment, click here for the report.

This use case report is part of the outputs from a partnership between Icebreaker One and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). The project aims to close the data gaps required to roll out thousands more electric vehicle charge points across the UK by working together with industry to identify the data infrastructure needed to roll out more charge points.

Use case summary: More than 30% of households in the UK cannot install at-home electric vehicle chargepoints, highlighting the importance of affordable and nearby on-street charging. But how can local authorities deliver this infrastructure in a timely, efficient, equitable and cost-effective way, ensuring ‘location optimisation’? We explore how data can help the dilemmas that arise from the huge challenge of satisfying the coming demand for on-street charging.

Open Energy, a service that makes it easy to search, access and securely share energy data is being developed based on use cases. Taking this use case approach helps ensure the Open Energy service is  designed to address real-world problems put forward by industry stakeholders. 

The third use case from Open Energy’s Pilot phase focuses on the future of heating in the UK. It will illustrate how data sharing can support developers of new residential properties to install low-carbon heating systems that meet regulatory requirements in a cost-effective way. 

Government strategy means that, by 2025, all new homes will be banned from installing gas and oil boilers and will instead need to be heated by low-carbon alternatives that are less familiar and, in many cases, are likely to place higher demands on the electricity network. Residential property developers will therefore need to think more holistically about how to meet the heating energy demands of their developments. 

In the wake of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee’s report – Decarbonising heat in homes – which highlighted the scale, complexity, and cost of the challenge, the focus of our third use case is particularly timely. 

However, as is often the case with anything worth doing, we hit a few road bumps along the journey to this outcome. 

The starting point for our third use case

In Autumn 2021, members of the Open Energy Steering and Advisory Groups, including representatives from government, regulators, consumer bodies, trade associations and industry, identified potential areas of focus for new use cases. Broad areas considered during this process included electricity supply flexibility, electric vehicles (EVs), fuel poverty, heat pumps, smart meter adoption rates, and the transition away from domestic gas boilers/heating.

Following input from Advisory and Steering Group members, Icebreaker One prioritised flexibility in the energy market (or ‘flex’), as the key area of focus for the development of our third use case. 

The challenge with focusing on a theme, rather than a problem

However, flex as a theme proved challenging to pin down to a specific use case, for two key reasons. 

1. It is a very broad theme, with flexibility arguably having a key role to play across multiple facets of the energy ecosystem. 
2. Flexibility in the energy market, and how it can be delivered and managed, is still in the early stages of development. Thus, it has been challenging to identify real-world problems that better data access could help solve now (or in the near future). 

As an example of the latter challenge, one problem statement considered for development into a use case was as follows:

‘A flexible asset operator wants the ability to offer its available flexibility into the different markets for flexibility (ESO, DNO/DSO, wholesale suppliers, potentially peer-to-peer sales), and needs access to relevant data so it can sell its assets more effectively to those that need them.’

However, following discussion with key stakeholders, it became clear that a number of potential markets for the sale of flexibility are under development, or not yet in existence, and further work needs to be done around the regulatory and legal restrictions of managing such services in an evolving market. 

Thus, while it is certain that this is a problem that needs solving, the obstacles to progress are much bigger than data sharing alone can currently solve – though this may not always be the case.  

A slight shift in approach

A change in focus was needed. So, Icebreaker One pivoted its approach to consider the real-world issues that stakeholders in the energy industry are facing now and in the near future, and that the Open Energy service could help address.  

The future of heating leapt to the forefront, given the ban on the installation on gas and oil boilers in new properties is only three years away. The electrification of heating will place higher demands on the electricity network, and more complex modelling will be required to ensure regulatory requirements are met while keeping pressure on the network to a minimum.  

For residential property developers, this will involve not only establishing the most appropriate heating equipment for the location and property types, but also how demands on the grid can be managed through the installation of superior insulation, renewable sources of energy and – bringing us full circle to our original focus – equipment and systems to support flexibility. 

In this complex ecosystem, data will be key to working out the best solutions.

Open Energy’s third use case problem statement

Icebreaker One has therefore prioritised the problem statement behind our third use case as follows: 

‘A new residential housing developer (or an Mechanical & Electrical contractor operating on its behalf) wants to know how to reduce grid reliance and minimise grid connection requirements when building and kitting out new housing developments with energy technology (both the heating technologies themselves and renewable/flex resources that could reduce grid reliance) while still being in line with regulatory requirements. 

‘It needs data to be able to analyse the optimal combination of up-front costs vs reduction in grid connection in terms of overall cost of development.’

How can Icebreaker One’s Open Energy programme help?

Open Energy will make it easy for stakeholders across the industry to search, access and securely share energy data. This data can be open or shared (such as access being restricted to specific Data Consumers and/or requiring payment for accessing the data). 

Its service will enable residential developers (or those operating on their behalf) to understand the data available to help them plan the best heating solutions for their development, and to access and licence this data in a more streamlined manner. This will help property developers to:

• Use the data to analyse options and establish the most cost-effective solution
• Ensure their properties are sustainably developed in a way that is compliant with regulatory requirements around decarbonisation and keeps demands on the electricity network to a minimum. 

Help us develop this use case and make Open Energy a reality

Open Energy’s use cases are designed to demonstrate the value of the Open Energy programme and to catalyse innovation, by illustrating how better, more streamlined access to energy data can support specific industry needs based on focused, real-world problems.

To fully develop this use case, and help ensure it addresses the needs and concerns of potential Data Consumers and Data Providers, we would welcome feedback on:

• The opportunities and benefits this use case presents
• The challenges of implementation
• The data required for implementation (including any specific, known datasets, whether open or shared).

If you have insights that could help us develop this use case, whether you’re a potential Data Consumer or Data Provider, please email openenergy@ib1.org.

Get involved with Open Energy

• Become a member of Open Energy to use our pilot service
• Join Icebreaker One, which develops and operates Open Energy, as a supporter

Sign up to the Icebreaker One newsletter

But the UK’s EV-charging infrastructure is currently inadequate to support this. The need for access to data to support the rollout of a charging infrastructure to enable a surge in EVs has never been clearer.

Icebreaker One’s Open Energy programme is designed to make it easy to search, access and securely share energy data. Backed by Ofgem and the UK Government, it will bring together data held by thousands of individual organisations and institutions in an open marketplace.

Currently in its Pilot stage, the Open Energy service is being developed based on use cases that are designed to address real-world problems put forward by industry stakeholders. 

Icebreaker One has consulted people across government, regulators, consumer bodies, trade associations and industry to develop a new Open Energy Use Case focused on EVs. It explores the value of better data sharing, and ensures the development of Open Energy is focused on user needs.

Comments are welcome and help us shape our work.

Read the Open Energy Electric Vehicle Use Case

Get involved

• Become a member of Open Energy to use our Pilot service
• Join our Advisory Groups to help shape the future of the Open Energy service
• Join Icebreaker One, which develops and operates Open Energy, as a supporter
• Sign up to the Open Energy newsletter
• Email the team for anything else

Icebreaker One’s Open Energy programme is designed to make it easy to search, access and securely share energy data. Backed by Ofgem and the UK Government, it will bring together data held by thousands of individual organisations and institutions in an open marketplace. Currently in its pilot stage, the Open Energy service is being developed based on use cases that are designed to address real-world problems put forward by industry stakeholders. 

One use case currently in development is focused on how Open Energy will help electrical network and system operators meet the evolving and growing needs of EV users. We’ve conducted detailed interviews with the people on the front line of making this happen – here’s what we know so far.

Why the UK needs more EV charging points

The switch from conventionally-fuelled to emission-free vehicles forms a core part of the UK government’s Net Zero strategy, with the sale of new petrol and diesel (internal combustion engine, or ICE) cars to be banned by 2030. The reason for this is clear; transport produced 27% of the UK’s total emissions in 2019. The ban on the sale of new ICE cars, combined with lower running costs for EVs and an anticipated drop in up-front EV prices, means we can expect an explosion in EVs on the road over the coming years. 

But, as anyone who drives an EV knows, our EV charging infrastructure is inadequate. Not every household is in a position to install its own charge point, and even those that are will sometimes make use of public chargers. The UK government estimates that, by 2030, the country will need around 400,000 public charging points. But, as of December 2021, according to ZapMap, there are fewer than 30,000 public charging devices. This is a massive ramp up, and doesn’t even take into account the anticipated rise in installation of home EV charge points. 

In itself, the need for an exponential increase in charge points is a massive logistical challenge. But what’s arguably an even greater challenge is the capacity of our electricity network to cope with the rising demands placed on it. 

What’s standing in the way

Central to the task of ensuring that demands placed on the grid by the rising uptake of EVs are the UK’s Distribution Network Operators (DNOs). Their connection departments are responsible for processing and managing requests to the grid for electricity in the here and now, as well as forecasting future capacity requirements so that they can prioritise where to invest in greater capacity.

They need to know when and where charge points will be installed (domestic, public, commercial and industrial), the nature of these charge points (slow, rapid, ultrarapid, for example), and how they are utilised. But there is currently no mandatory registration of installations, with data having to be pulled from multiple sources. Data on utilisation of different types of charge point and plans for future installations is even more patchy and problematic to access. Concerns from those that hold the data may include reservations about access control, and whether their data is in a format that is suitable for sharing.

These challenges with data access make it inefficient and challenging for DNOs to plan for likely capacity requirements. This is only going to become trickier as EV uptake accelerates, potentially resulting in a too-slow rollout of charge points. 

Matt Webb, Head of Enterprise Data Management at UK Power Networks, told us:

‘The likely future demand on the electricity network that will be created through the accelerating uptake of EVs poses a significant challenge for network operators. We are faced with the need to meet customer and stakeholder expectations through the facilitation of timely connection of all forms of EV charging infrastructure while maintaining continuity and quality of electricity supply at lowest possible cost to the customer.

‘To ensure we are ready to service increasing numbers of fuse upgrades and potential network reinforcement where aggregate demand from EVs has the potential to exceed local network capacity, we require insight into potential and actual charge point installation and utilisation. The provision of data from a variety of stakeholders is key in this respect and the Open Energy programme has the potential to streamline processes to help meet this need and the challenge of delivering an electricity infrastructure that is fit for the future.’   

Matt Webb, Head of Enterprise Data Management at UK Power Networks

How Open Energy helps 

Open Energy makes data sharing simpler by automating data licensing, security checks, and technical integration. It can work with organisations that hold the data needed by DNOs, bringing it together into a one-stop shop with appropriate security and access controls, and in a consistent format. Using Open Energy, a DNO will vastly improve its access to the data they need to help make sure that grid capacity can meet the demand from newly installed EV charge points. They will be able to access this information more quickly and cost-effectively than ever before. They will be able to access hundreds of datasets with just one round of authentication and technical integration. 

In turn, it will allow DNOs to collaborate more effectively with other industry stakeholders. As well as accessing others’ data, DNOs can publish their own data securely, safe in the knowledge that only authenticated users can access it. It means no need to agree to a unique set of terms and conditions every time someone requests your data. Agree to Open Energy rules and policies once, and they’ll be applied automatically every time data is shared. 

Ultimately, better access to data via the Open Energy programme will help break down silos and ensure that an increase in the number of EVs – and EV charging points – does not place unsustainable demands on our energy resources. This will, in turn, help ensure that the UK is able to meet its ambitious targets for EV ownership by 2030 and beyond. 

Get involved

• Become a member of Open Energy to use our pilot service
• Join our Advisory Groups to help shape the future of the Open Energy service
• Join Icebreaker One, which develops and operates Open Energy, as a supporter
• Sign up to the Open Energy newsletter

Photo credit: Precious Madubuike on Unsplash