PACE will generate evidence of customer, network, operational and strategic benefits, helping determine whether a coordinated, place-based approach can accelerate decarbonisation while delivering better outcomes for customers and the electricity system.
What is the project about?
The transition to Net Zero is increasing the use of clean energy technologies such as solar panels, home batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicles. These technologies can benefit customers and the environment, but they are also changing how electricity is generated and used, placing new demands on the local electricity network.
Today, many of these technologies are installed separately, with customers, installers and organisations often working independently. This can mean opportunities to work together are missed, costs are higher and communities face repeated disruption from separate works. It can also make it harder for vulnerable and lower-income households to benefit from clean energy technologies.
A more joined-up, local approach could help overcome these challenges, delivering better outcomes for customers while making better use of the existing electricity network. However, there is currently limited evidence showing how this approach could work in practice and what partnerships and ways of working would be needed to make it successful.
PACE will bring together community organisations, local communities, local authorities, installers and energy suppliers to test this approach. It will explore whether working together can reduce energy bills, make better use of the electricity network and create an approach that could be used more widely, helping more households and communities benefit from the transition to Net Zero.
How we’re doing it
PACE is testing a new way of delivering clean energy technologies across whole communities. Instead of homes being treated individually, the project will take a joined-up approach, bringing together customer engagement, technology installations and improvements to the local electricity network.
The project will be delivered in two phases. The first will focus on selecting suitable communities and preparing for the trial. PACE will work with local partners to understand what customers need, decide how best to engage with them and identify the right technologies for each home.
The second phase will put this approach into practice. Working with local councils, community organisations, an energy supplier and an independent installer, PACE will install solar panels and battery storage, while also testing targeted improvements to the electricity network where they can have the greatest benefit. The project will then measure the impact for customers, communities and the network.
The findings will be used to develop a practical model that could be used more widely across UK Power Networks, while sharing valuable learning with the wider energy industry.
What makes it innovative
PACE is innovative because it will test a new, joined-up way of helping whole communities adopt clean energy technologies. Rather than treating each installation separately, it will explore how UK Power Networks can work with energy suppliers, installers, local authorities, community organisations and other partners to coordinate activity across a local area.
The innovation is not the individual technologies themselves, but how they are brought together and delivered. PACE will combine customer-owned solar panels and batteries with targeted improvements to the electricity network, independent energy advice and community-led engagement as part of one coordinated approach.
By testing this approach in real communities, PACE will gather evidence on whether it can reduce energy bills, make better use of the electricity network and create a practical model that could be used more widely to support the transition to Net Zero.
What we’re learning
PACE will explore whether a joined-up, neighbourhood approach can help more people benefit from clean energy technologies while making better use of the existing electricity network.
The project will look at whether working with trusted local organisations can help more people take part, particularly in communities where households may find it harder to access these technologies. It will also test whether planning installations across whole streets can lower costs, make delivery more efficient and reduce disruption compared with installing technologies one home at a time.
PACE will measure the impact of combining customer-owned solar panels and batteries with targeted improvements to the electricity network. This will help show the effect on energy bills, the network and the amount of electricity communities need. It will also look at wider benefits for customers and communities, including energy resilience, wellbeing and ensuring more people can benefit from the transition to Net Zero.
Finally, PACE will identify the partnerships and ways of working needed to use this approach more widely. The findings will help UK Power Networks and the wider energy industry understand how coordinated delivery could support a fairer and faster transition to Net Zero.
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If you have an idea that could reshape or revolutionise the way we work, we want to hear from you.
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