CARBON FLEX LONDON PILOT
FOR A 24/7 CARBON FREE LONDON
What is 24/7 CFE?
Matching energy demand to carbon free energy generation every hour.
According to SEforAll, an organisation bringing together a coalition around the UN Global Compact on 24/7 CFE, “It is both the end state of a fully decarbonized electricity system, and a transformative approach to energy procurement, supply, and policy design that is critical to accelerating its arrival.”
What is the London 24/7 Carbon Free Energy Project?
Arup, Energy Unlocked and Quantenergy led the London 24/7 CFE Project in 2022-2023, funded by C40 and Google on behalf of the Greater London Authority. The project team developed a roadmap for using a 24/7 Carbon Free Energy approach to drive demand-side flexibility in London. Findings coming soon.
The project asked, what difference can it make to ‘match’ energy demand to carbon free sources more hours of every day? Does shifting demand to match more to clean energy make it possible to reach net zero faster and contribute to national grid decarbonisation?
WHAT DOES PARTICIPATION IN THE PILOT INVOLVE?
1 - Assess carbon value of 24/7 CFE
We’ll assess how ‘carbon flexing’ demand in your buildings or (electric) vehicles can create carbon value
Understanding the impact
See how 24/7 CFE can improve in London as a result - we’ll assess the cumulative impact of the pilot today and what we can expect if this approach were to grow
What does this mean for London?
London's electrification needs will drive big changes in how the local energy system operates, and London's demand is 15% of national energy demand. It also has ambitious 2030 net zero targets, so needs all the tools it can get to reach that goal faster.
Why Now?
It's the perfect storm of technology readiness, public sector net zero commitments, and market pressure from companies & their customers. More flexibility brings more options for networks and consumers to electrify cheaper and faster on the path to net zero.
What will the 24/7 Carbon Flex pilot do?
The pilot will test the hypothesis that operating to a 'carbon signal' every hour in order to meet 24/7 CFE goals will motivate energy decision makers to increase the "flexibility" of assets and buildings (to turn up or turn down), and we will get more flexibility, faster.
The pilot targets shifting 100 MWh of carbon-aware demand in 2023 -2024, and assessing the resulting carbon impact.
2 - ‘Carbon Flex’
Shift hourly demand - over a week or more - within real building operations.
WIDER BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION
Participate in creating a Digital Carbon Standard for certifying hourly carbon
Ensuring that we are all consistently using data and measuring impact is one output of the project, so that stakeholders in London can create comparable and collective impact
ABOUT THE 24/7 CARBON FREE LONDON PROJECT
The 24/7 Carbon Flex Pilot was designed during the 24/7 Carbon Free Energy London project in 2022-2023. The 24/7 CFE PROJECT was funded by C40 and Google on behalf of the Mayor of London.
3 - Save Carbon
We’ll verify the savings that have happened in the pilot for your carbon reporting
See how this fits within the market
As BEIS and Ofgem look to ensure net zero energy systems are developed, this work will feed back to government the evidence and learning on behalf of participants