Whole Energy System

Blue Light

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What the project is about How we’re doing it What makes it innovative What we’re learning Reports & Documents

Project Data

Start date:

09/21/2024

End date:

02/28/2026

Budget:

£1,188,442

Summary

Blue Light aims to build on existing innovation initiatives and industry tools to simplify the connections process and improve visibility of requirements for emergency services organisations. Its goal is to ensure that UK Power Networks acts as an enabler of decarbonisation and supports the emergency services in achieving their net zero targets.

What is the project about?

The emergency services have ambitious decarbonisation targets, and their efforts to transition their fleets and estates are accelerating. This shift is driving a substantial increase in the size and complexity of electricity connections needed across their sites.

Decarbonising emergency service operations presents a unique set of challenges. These include maintaining operational resilience, managing decentralised and diverse estates, and navigating funding constraints. These issues are further complicated by the need to prepare and submit multiple connection applications — for EV charging infrastructure and other low carbon technologies (LCTs) — across, in some cases, more than 100 individual sites.

In the coming years, more emergency services organisations are expected to seek support and guidance to upgrade their site connections as they roll out LCTs to meet their net zero goals. The scale and diversity of sites and stakeholders involved increases the risk of a fragmented network picture, duplicated efforts, and a poor experience for applicants.

Addressing these challenges is critical — not only for emergency services and local governments to meet their decarbonisation targets, but also to contribute meaningfully to national and local environmental objectives. Failure to resolve these issues could result in delayed deployment of green technologies, complications in connecting to the grid, and reputational risks for both emergency services and UK Power Networks.

How we’re doing it

UK Power Networks aims to enhance the support, guidance, and transparency surrounding connection applications to help emergency services make more informed decisions and reduce the cost of network upgrades. Blue Light also seeks to foster greater collaboration among emergency services by sharing best practices and improving coordination.

The overarching goal is to create a unified, streamlined approach that reduces the time spent on applications, accelerates decarbonisation, and enhances network intelligence and planning.

The project includes a research and engagement phase, followed by the development of a proof-of-concept digital tool and an implementation plan for integration into business-as-usual processes.

In its first phase, the project engaged with emergency service organisations across the UK, including ambulance, police, and fire and rescue services, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of their requirements and challenges. It then progressed to analysing and modelling emergency services’ sites and fleets, and began designing a tool to support their decarbonisation efforts and address key operational barriers.

What makes it innovative

Emergency services face a unique set of challenges that require additional support on their decarbonisation journey. These challenges include the complexity of their estates, limited internal expertise, their critical societal role, and growing operational dependence on electricity.

While similar tools have been developed to help commercial businesses assess the impact of future EV adoption on the electrical grid, Blue Light is specifically designed to support emergency services. It will help assess the potential impact of fleet vehicles that currently lack electric equivalents and provide a holistic view across their entire estate—now and in the future. This will enable emergency services to map their decarbonisation requirements more effectively and optimise their transition strategies.

What we’re learning

Four key challenge areas have been identified from the initial phase of the project, highlighting our learnings to date. These challenges are particularly relevant to emergency services and carry significant implications for UK Power Networks. The project remains ongoing as we continue to gather insights and develop solutions to address these issues:

  • Challenge 1: Emergency services connection requirements are uniquely complex and costly, amid tight budget constraints
    Emergency services face distinct decarbonisation challenges due to the complexity of their estates and fleets, combined with limited budgets and pressing timelines.

  • Challenge 2: Optioneering demands substantial input from UK Power Networks resources
    Emergency services often lack the technical expertise needed to submit optimised connection applications. This frequently leads to multiple resubmissions, creating inefficiencies for both emergency services and UK Power Networks. Providing access to detailed site-specific information and grid conditions could help save time and reduce costs by enabling better-informed applications.

  • Challenge 3: Connections planning requires greater coordination across departments and organisations
    Insufficient collaboration within and between emergency service organisations hampers efficient decarbonisation efforts and the sharing of knowledge.

  • Challenge 4: Uncertainty remains around emergency services’ resilience planning
    As their reliance on electrical connections grows, emergency services face increased risks, necessitating UK Power Networks’ support in developing robust resilience strategies.

Reports & Documents

NIA Project Registration and PEA Document 2024-09-21
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