On Thursday May 4th, Icebreaker One held a problem statement prioritisation as part of our REACT programme. Working in partnership with SSEN Transmission, Mapstand and Olsights, REACT is focussed on creating a geographical planning tool that can be used across the industry to provide a dynamic view of all future connection requests.

Throughout the past month, Icebreaker One’s (IB1) research team conducted desk research, interviews, and stakeholder engagement to create a long-list of problem statements to understand blockers and barriers for enabling developers of electrolysis hydrogen generating units to position their units in the best locations, and connect to the national grid at a cost-efficient price and in as short a period as possible.

This month we brought together key stakeholders in a problem statement prioritisation workshop to inform the research for the Discovery phase of the programme. The workshop culminated in the participants ranking the problem statements 1-8. The highest ranked problem statements included:

  • It’s difficult for Transmission Owner to determine the future capacity of the network, as it is unsure which potential developments will connect to network (and when)
  • Much of the data required for the application process is held in data silos within the Transmission Owner. Thus TO staff involved in consent process must “hunt down” information, rather than access info easily
  • Developers lack knowledge on the best location for a hydrogen electrolysis development
  • Time is sometimes wasted by both developers and Transmission Operator during in-person pre-application meetings due to unrealistic feasibility studies and business plans
  • Transmission Owners receive far more electricity supply from generating companies than the regional demand in North Scotland. There is a risk energy produced goes to waste.

With this input, IB1 will now investigate data availability and data governance of identified key data sets to determine what may be possible with today’s data and make recommendations for reducing friction to promote future innovation.