The electrification of transport is happening at pace and will spark a sharp increase in demand for electricity – a development the UK electrical grid is ill prepared for. While a significant increase in investments into the aging grid is unavoidable over time, in the short term, smart grids are a solution.
The UK, like many mature economies, faces an approaching dilemma. After twenty years of energy sector deregulation it has delivered a functional electrical distribution system in which investment costs are falling in spite of the grid’s age. At the same time the country sits on the cusp of an electric vehicle revolution which will test this system.