ECLIPSE POWER: An Agile Independent Network Alternative

As an IDNO, everyone from developers and end users to Independent Connection Providers (ICPs) stand to reap the several significant benefits associated with Eclipse Power’s alternative solution to electricity grid connection when compared with the standard DNO option. Overseen by the UK’s energy regulator OFGEM with the same standards and obligations with which they must comply, IDNO networks tend to come about as extensions to the existing networks to provide for a variety of developments across sectors including residential, commercial, industrial, storage and generation.

“Being a licensed IDNO allows Eclipse Power to build, own and operate licensed electricity networks throughout the UK,” outlines the Buckinghamshire-based operator. “This is in direct competition with the DNO, but allows us to offer our clients significant benefits, resulting in a more flexible and innovative approach to their project.”

DNOs are those organisations licensed by OFGEM to distribute electricity across 14 specific geographical areas, delivering electricity via their network of underground cables and power lines from the National Grid to homes and commercial properties. In the interest of increasing competition within the electricity distribution market and keeping bills low for the consumer, an IDNO once approved can then design, own, operate and maintain electricity distribution networks across the UK, with no location limitations whatsoever.

AGILE ALTERNATIVE

In this world of energy price volatility, in which oil costs are at their highest level in three years and natural gas prices have spiked sharply, a stimulated market, paired with grid access congestion and planning uncertainty, it is crucial that all parts of the industry come together and collaborate to enable grid connections, says Spencer Thompson, Managing Director at Eclipse Power Networks.

“We are a post-startup company on a rapid growth plan,” Thompson summates, with a staff complement having nearly doubled in size in the last year and plans in place to double this again to stand at 60 within the next 18 months. Revenue is also on course to rocket, he adds – the current aim which we are on course to exceed is to adopt +40 EHV substations amounting to +4GW of network capacity across over 1000 separate networks within five years.

“The concept of an IDNO was introduced to the industry to create more competition against the big, established network companies, which bordered on monopolistic in some areas,” Thompson explains. “IDNOs are small, lean, agile companies, and our revenue streams are much less than these bigger players, but the result is that we represent a far more alluring alternative to connecting to the grid for developers and customers.”

The energy transition and race to net zero is rapidly becoming the most pertinent and pressing preoccupation for businesses, cities, regions, and investors alike, Thompson points out. It is severely hampered both within the UK and across Europe by the litany of issues surrounding grid access congestion. “Connecting to the grid can be complicated, particularly at the higher voltages. We can see the market has the funding, the technology mix is rapidly progressing and planning will always be a challenge,” underlines Thompson.

“This all means that there has never been a better time to address longstanding industry challenges around queue management. The movement away from using fossil fuels in the energy transition has sparked the acceleration of activity like the renewables market, with solar and wind huge areas of potential around the world.

“We are, essentially, the ‘last mile’ in the connection process, and the costs and timescales of that key element can vary very significantly. Our modus operandi is to facilitate that connection in a quicker, cheaper, and more agile way,” Thompson resolves. “Looking for new ways to deal with challenges is part of our DNA at Eclipse; as such, we will continue to positively influence and collaborate with the industry to ease grid access congestion.”

Eclipse Power plays a role within the industry in facilitating the significant structural changes relating to the transition, especially as part of British sustainable energy specialists Octopus Group. “We are heavily involved in helping to facilitate the shift in heating for homes, moving from gas boilers across to air source technology,” Thompson outlines. “Octopus Energy has created some new, innovative schemes to expedite that movement away from gas by making air source heating more affordable and accelerating the use of Hydrogen.

“A lot of our biggest customers are major global infrastructure companies that are funding enormous renewable schemes, and we are able to connect those customers in a simpler, more agile way, and as such we ourselves are helping to accelerate the transition.”

REDUCING VOLATILITY

The footloose, shackle-free nature of Eclipse Power’s offering is one of its key USPs, and Thompson is now keen to see the company take this spirit and run with it, into new geographical realm and territories. “We have a national footprint,” he delineates, “and we now want to expand on that and increase our current density. We cover four key sectors: residential, industrial and commercial, through to EV hubs and finally extra-high voltage (EHV) customers such as Data Centres and grid scale renewables such as battery storage, hydrogen & PV solar sites. This could equate to a 100-megawatt battery storage installation, for example, or 250 megawatts of solar or wind – right through to one of the new hydrolyser plants that are just starting to come online. Eclipse Power are helping Data Centre clients secure capacity and innovatively connect to the Grid in a rapidly growing UK market which is facing some significant grid capacity challenges.

“Our specialism, though, is at an EHV level, because it bridges exactly between distribution and transmission where there exists a certain pinch point at present.” What will enable Eclipse Power to capitalise on all of these openings is clear to Thompson: hard-fought knowledge, practical experience and unwavering support.

“We are extremely heavy on industry expertise; we have a cadre of highly qualified engineers and commercial agents who can help to navigate what can be the extremely choppy waters of the grid connection process. This specific know-how is arguably what sets us apart as market-leading, and in particular the crossover into transmission that we, traditionally a distribution company, have forged. This latter is another extremely buoyant market where again customers are facing difficulties in getting connected, and where we are perfectly placed to unblock and resolve such issues.

“Our expert knowledge and practical industry experience enable us to ensure customers are supported all the way along from that first interaction to the physical connection and energisation to the grid. That must be core to our purpose and we ensure that it is impossible to be in better hands than ours.”

A thorough rebrand and fresh marketing strategy are on the cusp of being launched, Thompson reveals, as part of which both services and products stand to be expanded drastically. “As part of this,” Thompson goes on, “we are the first company to apply for a fully compliant, independent transmission license, to provide alternative ways to connect with the grid and complement the likes of National Grid, Scottish Power and SSE.” Again, like everything else that has come before it and will surely follow, this is a mechanism to make the grid connection easier, and more viable, for Eclipse Power’s customers.

“This is a first in the country, and if it happens – to be confirmed in the middle of this year – we have a raft of other customers who want to come along with us. Project viabilities are yo-yoing every day, with energy price volatility and the skyrocketing commodity prices of batteries in solar, for example, combining to lend much uncertainty; these things are also grid CapEx sensitive.

“In creating this transmission license, we take away some of this difficulty and give projects more certainty around cost and schedule, to ultimately make them more viable. This is a huge step, and will make us market-leading in this respect as well; while I am sure that others will be following, we have stolen the march for the moment.” Thompson is a year into his ambitious vision for aggressive growth, and is backed by a plan fully approved by Octopus.

“We want to be more inventive and more innovative in how we build the business,” he concludes. “We are a small business on an aggressive growth path, with a host of products and service offerings that differentiate us from the market and make us stand out within the industry. We are a diminutive player today, but our influence is growing rapidly and the issuing of our transmission license will really put us on the map and help accelerate the energy transition and connecting to the grid.”