What is the project about?
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generators offered a highly efficient way to heat buildings while simultaneously generating electricity.
They gained particular popularity in large urban areas, such as hospitals, and played an increasingly important role in district heating and community energy projects.
The Greater London Authority aspired to see rising demand for electricity from these highly efficient CHP units as part of the broader transition to a decarbonised energy system.
UK Power Networks aimed to ensure that this additional generation could connect safely to the electricity network—without requiring significant investment from customers to upgrade network capacity.
To support this, the company developed the Fault Limiting Circuit Breaker (FLCB), a solid-state device that operated 20 times faster than any comparable technology previously available. It was capable of blocking 100% of fault-level contribution while allowing normal load current to flow both before and after the fault was cleared.
This high-speed operation offered enhanced protection for the electricity network. Its compact design also made it well-suited for installation in space-constrained urban environments, enabling many more CHP units and other generators to connect before any major network upgrades were needed.
If deployed at scale, the device had the potential to save customers across the UK an estimated £225 million by 2025. By enabling faster, more cost-effective connections for low-carbon generators, this innovation from UK Power Networks supported the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy system.
