A 10-fold increase in connections, an estimated 5% market share of planned new build housing in Britain, strong growth in the fibre-to-the-home market and EV charging infrastructure under asset management…it’s been a remarkable two years of success for Energy Assets’ local network ownership businesses.
The company’s independent gas, electricity and fibre-to-the-home network operations have grown from a standing start into one of Britain’s most active market players, currently owning 7,000 gas connections, 5,000 fibre and 13,000 electricity…but with tens of thousands more under contract for adoption.
“The next 12 months will see even faster growth, as the partnerships forged with housebuilders, commercial developers and contractors translate into network connections,” said Jayson Whitaker, Managing Director of Energy Assets Networks, Pipelines and Fibre.
“From our pipeline of contracts, we know that we will soon be responsible for around 5% of local network connections for Britain’s 190,000 new build homes scheduled for the next year.”
Energy Assets is also at the forefront of fast emerging local network markets, including fibre-to-the home, EV charging, renewable energy, battery storage and real time energy and network management.
“We are an innovative business with a flexible approach to asset adoption and valuation that isn’t bound by history or cumbersome administration – we listen to our customers and invest in our in-house resources to deliver design management, network approvals and legal agreements. This helps our customers realise the value of their investments as quickly as possible.”
This agility is also reflected in discussions with housebuilders and developers about low carbon asset adoption, covering technologies such as air source heat pumps, domestic EV charging, solar panels and battery storage– all of which will be important contributors to decarbonising the UK economy.
One significant and immediate technology growth area is fibre-to-the-home.
“Five years ago, how many prospective homeowners would have cited internet connection speeds as a key priority in their decision-making process?” said Jayson. “Now, for many people it ranks alongside all the other main utilities.
“We are strongly positioned in this market through our partnership with providers of advanced fibre broadband networks across the UK. We currently have 5,000 connections under management, with more to follow as we roll out the offer this year to England and Wales, serving up 1GB broadband speeds in readiness for IoT connectivity.
“Smart device control will become increasingly important as we move towards electrification. For example, the demand placed on local networks by everyone coming home and plugging in their electric vehicles will make load management more important than ever before. So, we are investigating how smarter device control can enable the adjustment of loads to maintain network integrity without any disruption to consumers.”
In the commercial arena, Energy Assets is now working with major technology providers on asset adoption linked to in-transit and on-street EV charging, supporting super-fast charging stations.
“We are engaged in just about every area of significance in the UK energy market – electrification, renewables, battery storage, EV infrastructure, and this is opening up huge opportunities for our network adoption businesses,” said Jayson.
“But we are not passive partners. We have the technical capability to help optimise network efficiency, embrace new technologies, adapt to changing requirements in areas such as hydrogen and renewables, and invest in innovations that will delivery local energy network security on the journey to net zero carbon emissions.”
Photo shows Jayson Whitaker, Managing Director of Energy Assets Networks, Pipelines and Fibre.
www.energyassetsnetworks.co.uk