Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), the Distribution Network Operator for the north of Scotland and central southern England, has now onboarded the first group of five local authorities which have signed up to its innovative new Local Energy Net Zero Accelerator (LENZA) tool.
The LENZA tool will help local councils deliver on their climate ambitions and accelerate the development of holistic and efficient local area energy plans.
Last week, LENZA specialists from SSEN and its project partner, Advanced Infrastructure Technology Ltd. (AITL), ran initial training sessions with representatives from Wiltshire Council, Southampton City Council, Dorset Council, Perth & Kinross Council, and Dundee City Council.
The dedicated team will now co-create solutions with the local authorities in SSEN’s licence areas by providing regular input, network analysis, and ‘whole system’ thinking to their energy planning.
Councillor Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, says,
“We are delighted to be involved in using SSEN's new tool. It is already apparent this will be a real game changer for Dorset's journey to becoming a carbon-neutral county.
"Whether making plans for renewables, designing low-carbon heat projects, or seeking funding for EV chargers, it is an unrivalled source of data and insight. It’s also an excellent example of network operators and local authorities working together on plans to decarbonise local energy and reach net zero.”
Barbara Whiting, Sustainability and Climate Change Manager for Dundee City Council, says,
“The City of Dundee is delighted to continue our partnership with SSEN by being one of the first local authorities to go through training for the LENZA tool.
“It will provide us with a ‘whole systems’ overview of the energy networks in our city, as well as crucial data and insights that will underpin our new Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy.”
Launched in October, the LENZA tool, which is powered by software developed by Advanced Infrastructure Technology Ltd, shows live capacity on the network and predicted constraints. LENZA empowers local authorities to make better decisions about where to put new energy assets like EV chargers, or where to roll out low-carbon programmes. It uses a traffic-light system to show whether a new energy asset could be accommodated on the existing network or if further development is required.
Councils will be able to use LENZA to develop their own Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs). These plans help to identify the changes and resources needed to achieve Net Zero at a local level within a specific timeframe. SSEN Distribution believes LAEPs are vital for Regional Energy Strategic Planning (RESP) to proceed in a fair and equitable manner. They will also ensure critical ‘bottom-up’ components are in place to complement the top-down framework which RESP will provide.
SSEN has invited 63 local authorities to register their interest for the platform and will be offering monthly onboarding sessions throughout 2024.
Andy Wainwright, SSEN Distribution’s Whole System Development Manager, says,
“Councils have been telling us they face significant barriers to developing Local Area Energy Plans, so it’s been great to hear them tell us at this week’s onboarding sessions how they think LENZA will make a huge difference to their work to implement these plans.”
Lily Cairns Haylor, the co-founder and head of product at Advanced Infrastructure Technology Ltd says,
"It's been a delight to see the level of engagement and enthusiasm from the local authorities in SSEN's license areas so far. Without access to the right data and tools, there are a number of challenges councils face in moving forward with their Local Area Energy Plans.
“With the introduction of the LENZA tool, we are starting to dismantle unnecessary barriers and costs facing local authorities, empowering them with the data and tooling to drive proactive, impactful change in their journeys to net zero."
Local authorities will be supported by SSEN and AI through a series of onboarding workshops and training sessions to ensure they are able to get the most value from the tool.
Councils within SSEN’s licence areas who have still to express their interest in the LENZA tool can do so by following this link.