Do we need a data sharing infrastructure for the energy sector?

Abstract

Diversifying and decarbonising energy production by investing in renewables and clean energy is the UK Government's blueprint to power Britain from Britain. Technological developments and deployment are progressing rapidly, however, the whole-system approach—bringing together organisations across the traditional boundaries to provide the country with an increasing capability to source affordable, clean and home-grown energy—is still lacking. A key barrier to the whole-system approach is lack of a data sharing infrastructure (DSI), which allows standardised and interoperable data to be securely shared between key stakeholders, helping to align giga watt, mega watt and kilo watt renewable and clean energy with end-user demand. Development of a DSI covering the entire problem and organisation space is a complex and costly undertaking. This paper advocates for a minimum viable product (MVP) that takes an early, continuous engagement of influencing and impacting stakeholders, facilitates the discovery of desired system functional properties at the earliest possible stage of system development to meet diverse users' needs, mitigate potential risks, and inform the future development. If an MVP offers genuine benefits for early adoptions and the opportunity to address mission critical challenges, it will propel mass collaboration and innovation to accelerate net zero transition and green growth.