Project REMeDY
Focusing on Southend-on-Sea, REMeDY (spearheading a Revolution in Energy Market Design) has developed an innovative smart local energy system model for decarbonising energy use across heat, transport and electricity.
Lead Organisation
Southend-on-Sea City Council
URL
Location
Southend-on-Sea
About the project
The model is based around a smart heat network combined with a private wire electricity network linking renewables generation and battery storage.
The REMeDY model optimises energy production, storage and use and has been shown to be a viable low-carbon energy solution for new domestic and commercial developments.
The model responds to the needs of stakeholders across a building’s lifecycle including developers, social housing providers, owners and tenants. It is informed by a detailed review of the energy needs and opportunities in and around Southend-on-Sea.
REMeDY has also created a project pipeline, exploring the potential to deploy the model in new build and retrofit real-world developments.
What did the project achieve?
- A smart local energy system model capable of supporting decarbonisation across heat, electricity and transport that is regulatorily compliant and commercially investable.
- Eight REMeDY solutions explored for real-world housing/commercial building developments with one currently being taken forward with project developers.
- Detailed insights into the Southend-on-Sea energy system through an energy and carbon review.
- Extensive engagement with local citizens through a range of innovative approaches including community ECO days and a net zero superhero programme engaging residents over 10 weeks.
Key lessons learnt
- Low-carbon smart energy systems based on heat networks can offer a competitive alternative to heat pumps.
- The incentives on building developers are not aligned with the adoption or development of smart energy networks.
- REMeDY has the potential to offer a lower-cost pathway compared with other zero-carbon options for many existing buildings, particularly for buildings with low energy efficiency. But mechanisms are needed to recover costs over longer timescales.
Next steps
- REMeDY solutions being taken forward in one newbuild mixed domestic and commercial development.
- Southend-on-Sea City Council will look for opportunities to reflect the learning from the project and the potential for REMeDY solutions within the net zero energy strategy currently being developed.