Low Carbon Ready

Cleaner engines

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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:

10/01/2020

End date:

10/31/2022

Budget:

£433,000

Summary

We’re deploying new alternately-fuelled hybrid generators to significantly lower carbon emissions while keeping customers on supply during power cuts as part of our industry-leading Green Action Plan.

What is the project about?

We deploy backup generators to keep power supplies 99.99% reliable for millions of customers in London, the South East and East of England. We do this to keep our customers safe and warm, especially during bad weather when power cuts are more likely to occur. Cleaner Engines aims to test alternatively-fuelled hybrid generators which produce fewer carbon emissions than those currently in use.

How we’re doing it

We’re investigating three types of hybrid generators running on three different fuels:

  • Biofuel (hydrotreated vegetable oil – HVO)
  • Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
  • Glycerine

In the project, we are working with two suppliers to design, build and demonstrate these innovative generator technologies. We’re testing these different alternatives to make sure we ultimately select the one which provides the best performance, efficiency, reliability and emissions reduction.

What makes it innovative

We’re designing and testing brand new types of generators that have never been deployed before. The project will trial several innovative new fuels, including a biofuel made from vegetable oil and glycerine, which is used in Formula E race cars.

What we’re learning

The project will help us understand which type of hybrid generator is best for our customers and produces the greatest reduction in emissions. We will also learn how the new types of fuels could be stored and handled in practice. Overall, the project will also inform our industry-leading Green Action Plan and help us lower our carbon footprint

Reports & Documents

View project reports on the Energy Network Association’s Smarter Networks PortalProject Registration Document
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