From heat pumps to electric vehicles (EVs), recent months have seen a flurry of pledges from the government geared towards decarbonisation of the energy system. The latest came in the Chancellor’s Budget, which included increases in spend on energy innovation and high-tech projects and prototypes. While this level of ambition is welcome, the reality is that even if the entire UK population shifted to electric heating and EVs, our outdated energy networks could not meet this new level of demand for electricity. If the UK is serious about speeding up the decarbonisation of transportation and domestic energy use, the digitisation of networks should be at the top of the to-do list.
