Energy sector resilience position paper

Strengthening the resilience and security of critical national infrastructure, such as the electricity generation, transmission and distribution system, is a key priority for the Government. As the UK progresses towards its Net Zero targets there will be changes to the energy supply mix and demand. Attempting to achieve this transition without the appropriate strategy in place could prove costly for the UK; a brittle infrastructure can induce a negative chain reaction throughout the wider system. To create resilience, there needs to be a technical understanding of the issues, processes, and interdependencies when assessing risks with a whole-system engineering perspective informing decisions.

IET recommendations:

• Skills to aid the electricity system: As the UK pursues its Net Zero targets, it will be pivotal to appropriately invest in upskilling and reskilling the current workforce to be able to manage the newer energy infrastructures. 
  Grid infrastructure: Power outages can have widespread and serious consequences for individuals and society. Fortunately, there are very few major grid events, but despite removing the risk entirely being impossible, they can be reduced through engineering design and operation. 
• Renewables, storage, flexibility and interconnection: Resilience planning needs to go beyond "average" weather scenarios and account for rare but severe events, such as multi-day cold snaps with little wind, that go beyond ‘typical’ daily fluctuations.
• Gas resilience: Government should look to make the North Sea their primary resource for importing gas. Not only will the gas infrastructure be more resilient through increased importation of gas from the North Sea other factors will also improve. 
• Nuclear: Nuclear infrastructure can play an important role in developing a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system for 2030.
• Delivering Investment and Innovation for the energy transition: It is integral that government plan to deliver long term resilience by prioritising forward thinking and innovative approaches, this can be done by cross-departmental and cross-sectoral collaboration.
• Changing Geo-political climate: Recent geopolitical events have created global uncertainty and instability in global supply chains. Where industries of the past have been closed the UK should be moving at speed to secure expertise and independence on the industries of the future. 
• Building resilience through digital: Digital technologies can help bolster resilience across a range of sectors by providing a greater insight into scenario modelling and provide insightful data analytics to help inform decision making.