Georgina Orso, Author at Guru Systems

Webinar: How to meter and monitor ambient loop heat networks

Georgina Orso — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 09:09:50 +0000

Ambient loop networks are increasingly common in the UK. Here at Guru Systems we’re seeing more and more of this type of heat network at design stage, in construction and in operation.

Ofgem will begin regulating our industry within the next two years, and there will be a greater focus on how heat networks perform than ever before – including ambient loop networks.

On 5 October 2023, Guru Systems team members Georgina Orso (Head of Marketing) and Gary Banham (Sales Director) delivered the below webinar which:

1. Recapped the difference between fourth generation heat networks and ambient loop heat networks

2. Discussed how ambient loop networks fit in the changing regulatory landscape including:

The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations
Upcoming regulation by Ofgem

3. Explained how metering and monitoring works on ambient loop networks, and how it’s different to fourth generation heat networks

4. Discussed performance monitoring of ambient loop networks, including monitoring the efficiency of in-dwelling heat pumps in operation

If there are any questions unanswered by the webinar, please send them to us at sales@gurusystems.com.

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Guru Systems technology is part of five successful HNES Round 1 projects

Georgina Orso — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 08:20:05 +0000

The Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) is a £32m grant funding scheme to improve the performance of existing heat networks. Guru Systems supported six projects as part of the previous HNES Demonstrator that ran in 2021/22, and we can now confirm that every bid to Round 1 of the main HNES scheme that included Guru Systems technology was successful.

HNES funding is being delivered across 9 rounds. The next deadline is for Round 5 on Friday 13 October, and there are 3 remaining rounds beyond this. Read more below about how our technology can support HNES applications, and get in touch if you’re planning to submit for future rounds.

Guru Systems technology for improved heat network performance

Guru Systems captures performance data from over 250 heat networks in the UK. Over the past ten years, we’ve worked with a wide range of local authorities, housing associations, and private developers to support them as they improve the performance of their heat networks and help reduce resident costs.

We drew on this experience to support six projects as part of the HNES Demonstrator and the same method will be used on the projects we’re working on as part of the HNES main scheme. HNES capital funding was used to install either Guru Hub 2 or Guru Hub 3 to capture performance data, and all projects then used Guru Pinpoint to identify problems and inefficiencies. Interventions were made, with results visible in the data.

How does Guru Pinpoint direct heat network performance improvements?

Below is a good example of a poorly performing heat network. Using Guru Pinpoint’s dashboard we are able to quickly see that something isn’t right using the traffic light system. Flow temperature, return temperature and Delta T are all coded in red. Heat loss per dwelling is high, as are the bypass flow rates.

From here, we can view a list of dwellings on this network, ordering by Overall VWART to identify poorly performing dwellings before taking a closer look at time series data.

If we then look more closely at one of the dwellings on this network, we can see a similar pattern here too: tightly coupled flow and return temperatures with a consistently high flow rate regardless of whether heat is being demanded or not. This tells us that interventions need to be made at the dwelling level, not just in the plant room.

Using Guru Pinpoint, network operators can identify exactly where heat networks are experiencing issues and then recommend the most effective interventions to promote efficiency and performance.

How Guru Systems can support HNES reporting requirements

Successful HNES projects are subject to a variety of minimum reporting requirements – including reporting performance-related KPIs for 24 months after all funding measures have been installed and commissioned.

Project KPIs
To monitor network performance including the impact of delivered measures (relative to baseline)
Quarterly (submission of 3 sets of monthly KPI data)
Start: first quarter end after funding award confirmed. End: 24 months (eight quarters) after all funded measures have been installed and commissioned

Guru Pinpoint displays heat network data across six registers: flow temperature (°C), return temperature (°C), flow rate (m3/hour), volume (m3), instantaneous power (kW), and energy (kWh).

Section 1.2 in the Scheme guidance details what kind of performance-related KPIs should be included:

“Suppliers will propose and quantify suitable metrics, targets, and KPIs for measuring Project operational performance, based upon previous experience of delivering similar work. The baselining must cover assessment of the whole network architecture, including plant room/energy centre, primary/secondary/tertiary network, and customer interfaces.”

“KPIs will be Project-specific, but the Supplier should aim to report against as many as possible of the following:

Annual network carbon emissions (kg.CO2e)
Carbon content of delivered heat (kg.CO2e/kWh)
Annual fuel use (gas, electricity, other) (kWh)
Overall network efficiency (gas in / heat out) (%)
Network distribution efficiency (heat leaving energy centre/heat delivered) (%)
Network distribution losses (broken down by primary, secondary, and tertiary where possible) (kWh)
Network heat losses (W/dwelling)
Network flow and return temperatures (deg)
Cost to the operator of delivering heat to customer interfaces (p/kWh)
Heat tariff paid by network customers (p/kWh [variable], £/day [fixed])
Overheating (description / annual number of hours reduction)
Service outages/interruptions, planned and unplanned (# in a recent 12-month period)
Service outages/interruptions, planned and unplanned (total no. hours in a recent 12-month period)
Other appropriate/relevant KPIs or metrics as proposed by the Client to support assessment of the performance of a heat network.”

Guru Pinpoint can provide data to support these performance reporting requirements.

If you would like to find out more about applying for HNES funding and where Guru Systems and Guru Pinpoint can help, please contact us.

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Webinar: How to prepare for Ofgem’s heat network performance reporting requirements

Georgina Orso — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 09:18:59 +0000

The world of heat networks is changing dramatically. Ofgem will begin regulating our industry within the next two years, and there will be a greater focus on how heat networks perform than ever before. There will also be a requirement to submit performance data annually.

These regulations aren’t just about capturing performance data only to make a submission for compliance, they are about digitalising to genuinely monitor performance, and to take action to improve where needed.

On 7 September 2023, Casey Cole, CEO at Guru Systems delivered the below webinar which:

Summarised what we know so far about upcoming regulation by Ofgem, including the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme
Explored what is expected to be required when it comes to performance reporting to Ofgem and show example real-world data
Discussed how heat network operators can improve the performance of their heat networks before Ofgem formally takes over in order to minimise the risk of non-compliance

To read more on this topic, go to our recent post: On regulatory changes: An hour with Casey Cole.

If there are any questions unanswered by the webinar, please send them to us at sales@gurusystems.com.

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