Power trials to roll out in Boston Spa and Wetherby

Northern Powergrid is spearheading the scheme that will be launched next August and if rolled out across the UK, could save around two million tonnes of CO2 annually.

The Boston Spa Energy Efficiency Trial (BEET) is the branchild of Keith Jackson, a former electricity supply engineer and a member of the Boston Spa Green Group and the Northern Powergrid stakeholder feedback panel.

He discovered voltage at his home was higher than it needed to be.

Keith explained the next steps: “Northern Powergrid asked me to join their investigation team.

“We came up with this innovative solution, which gathers remote voltage readings from smart meters.

“Northern Powergrid wants to spread the benefits to most of its eight million customers without customers having to do anything.

“And it will bring CO2 savings and potentially help to release network capacity ready for the growth in electric vehicles – a win, win, win for customers, the planet and the company.”

Northern Powergrid will gain data from local smart meters and run it through its specially developed BEET-Box to optimise the network voltage.

Iain Miller, Head of Innovation at Northern Powergrid, said: “BEET represents a revolutionary application of a well-understood technique that could help to deliver huge capacity savings on parts of our network, while saving our customers energy and money.

“Innovations such as this are a key enabler of our plans to support net zero.”

Coun Helen Hayden, Executive Member for Infrastructure and Climate at Leeds City Council thanked Keith for the idea.

“This is a really exciting trial. If successful, this technology could help cut everyone’s energy bills while playing a part in helping to ensure our electricity infrastructure is ready for the rapid adoption of plug-in vehicles, cleaner heating and solar panels.

“I would particularly like to thank local resident and innovator Keith Jackson.”