Europe has built up one of the best gas distribution infrastructures in the world. There's one problem, though. Today it distributes natural gas, a fuel that will hardly be able to use if we're to reach net zero targets in the future. So, can we use this infrastructure instead for clean hydrogen, either blended with natural gas as a stepping stone to net zero or with pure hydrogen in the future? 

Delta-EE Director Jon Slowe was joined on Talking New Energy, the podcast from Delta-EE, by Eva Hennig, chair of Eurogas’ Distribution Committee and Head of Department for EU Energy Policy, Thüga; Keith Owen, Head of Systems Development and Energy Strategy and Northern Gas Networks in the UK; and Delta-EE Analyst Robert Castek. They discuss whether the degree to which hydrogen can be used in networks – both blended with natural gas in gas distribution networks, and with pure hydrogen flowing through networks.  

The New Energy Business Model team have been gazing into their crystal ball - borrowed from the Talking New Energy team - to predict what 2021 will bring for the energy transition. As ever, they don’t agree on everything. What do you think of their predictions and what do you believe 2021 has in store? Get in touch and let us know.

Andy Bradley, Director

Customer research is a vital part of what Delta-EE does, looking in-depth at the needs and wants of energy customers as they become an increasingly important part of the energy transition. With the recent publication of Delta-EE’s report The New Energy Consumer: Who are they and what do they want?, host Jon Slowe was joined on a recent episode of Talking New Energy – the podcast from Delta-EE – by Principal Analyst David Trevithick and Analyst Lodovico Di Deodato. They discuss how companies are using customer insight to develop their business models and propositions for the future. 

David Trevithick says, “consumers are a part of the decarbonisation equation, so we need to bring the customer on the energy transition with us. And to do that as industry, we need to really and deeply understand them: what makes them tick, how they live their lives, their energy-related needs, motivations and preferences. And remember, of course, this varies between us all.  

When presenting this question to product managers, engineers, and business developers in market leading companies in the European energy sector, I discovered a world of potential for many different applications; not only in remote areas where they would normally be implemented but also in grid connected spaces with operational needs to be fulfilled.

I learned how complex microgrids can be, especially if based on intermittent renewable energy sources. But I also discovered how flexible they could be and how they could help the wider energy system that is becoming increasingly challenged both by generation connected at low voltage levels and new demands for electricity for heating and mobility.

For eMobility, 2020 was demonstrably different to all years preceding it. Amid a slump of car and van sales across the continent, electric vehicles (EVs) hit the headlines for sharp increases in deliveries and resulting gains in vehicle market share.

While this growth trend has been felt consistently across Europe, all markets are not equal. Any business with a multi-national EV strategy will be exploring this with a variety of metrics to measure the size of the EV opportunity in 2021.

Demand side flexibility across Europe is growing. It’s multidimensional, from residential to commercial and industrial customers, kilowatts to kilowatt hours, and networks to electricity markets. But how are businesses seizing the opportunities it provides?

In a recent episode of Talking New Energy, the podcast from Delta-EE, host and Delta-EE Director Jon Slowe discussed the issues of standards and operability with guests Adriaan van Eck from the Flexibility Alliance Network, Nina Klein from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and Lucinda Murley, Delta-EE Analyst.

2020 has been a year like no other. It’s hard to remember what the news covered before the Covid-19 crisis. Businesses have been challenged, with job losses and restructuring commonplace, and lockdowns across the world have put countless things on hold. 

That said, the energy transition has continued to gather pace. New entrants continue to enter the market, despite companies like Tonik Energy and Yorkshire Energy going under, and companies such as Ekwateur and So Energy see the challenges the year has presented as just that: a challenge. 

We’ve done it... We’ve reached the end of 2020. As we all breathe a collective sigh of relief and look forward to the year ahead, it’s time to take a glass half full approach and celebrate the success we’ve seen in the new energy transition over the past year.

I was recently joined by my colleagues Charmaine Coutinho, Head of Consulting, and Lindsay Sugden, Head of Heat, to do just that.

It is a sad indictment of humankind that we always seem to feel the need for an adversarial approach to life, particularly when it includes the future of our planet.   

We all recognise that there is an urgent need to develop a sustainable energy system, no longer dependent on finite fossil fuels. Given that, one might imagine that we would all be seeking the optimum solutions for each and every energy need, instead of insisting that our personally preferred technology should be used for every application.   

Since our last new energy letter, the European Commission has published its long-awaited Renovation Wave Strategy, revealing of the extent of Europe’s decarbonisation ambitions in existing buildings – arguably the most challenging sector to decarbonise. The renovation wave strategy is making ripples, which could become a tidal wave of transformation for our existing building stock, with energy efficiency and the uptake of low carbon heating standing to make vast gains.

But this scale of change will only be unlocked if the market is swept along too – if member states follow through on the strategy recommendations, and if private investment is unlocked at the scale envisaged. So which parts of the renovation wave strategy give me something to be optimistic about?