Welcome to the DIGEST project

Welcome!

Data-driven exploration of the carbon emissions impact of grid energy storage deployment and dispatch. EPSRC funded collaboration between Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh and Imperial College London

We are a dynamic research group, at the Battery Intelligence Lab. Our aim is to explore and understand quantum materials, including strange metals, high-temperature superconductors, and quantum critical electron matter. To this end, we develop new quantum sensing and quantum imaging instrumentation to get the key quantum mechanical degrees of freedom. We want to be able to build the perfect instruments to answer the scientific questions we deem most important (see Research).

Summary

DIGEST focuses on integration of grid energy storage. Specifically, it aims to demonstrate the carbon emissions savings possible by optimally locating and operating storage to avoid curtailment of renewables and additional fossil fuel generation. Energy storage can provide many benefits to the power grid, and it is projected that substantial storage will be required to meet UK net-zero targets (Aunedi 2021). However, it is not clear whether the financial and environmental advantages of storage currently align (e.g., if storage is placed far from excess renewable generation, on the other side of a congested network).

This project aims to test two hypotheses:

that carbon emission benefits occur if the location-specific impacts of storage during dispatch are accounted for;
that optimal placement of storage in the network enables substantially accelerated deployment of clean energy generators. To test these, we will develop novel GB transmission grid and market models, and simulate two scenario groups: First, what are the emissions impacts of existing and soon-to-be-built storage, and how could emissions be reduced? Second, how will emissions evolve over the next 15 years considering planned generation, storage, upgrades, and new demand.