Kyndryl’s Ben Scowen discusses a new energy platform, which hopes to lower the barrier to entry for small clean energy providers to the grid.
Last month, tech infrastructure company Kyndryl announced the successful delivery of a new megawatt dispatch (MWD) platform to accelerate the delivery of new clean energy sources across the south-east of the UK.
Delivered in partnership with – and designed by – UK Power Networks (UKPN), the MWD platform is a cloud-based system that aims to tackle a key challenge – the electricity grid limitations that prevent the easy addition of more clean energy sources.
With the existing system, the local grid distributes energy from the UK national grid to homes and businesses. However, when surplus energy is available, transmission constraints can prevent the local grid from accepting any new distributed energy resources (DERs).
As a result of these constraints, small energy providers – such as solar farms – could be prevented from supplying clean, locally generated electricity to local homes and businesses through the grid.
“Traditionally, local networks could not absorb extra power from DERs during periods of surplus. MWD solves this by giving operators real-time control of local energy production – scaling it up or down as needed to stay within safe operating limits,” explains Ben Scowen, VP of the UK and Ireland cloud practice at Kyndryl.
Connections and targets
The platform integrates the local flexibility infrastructure of the UKPN’s distribution system operator with that of the UK’s National Energy System Operator.
“This coordination enables DERs (or small-scale energy assets) to participate in both markets, increasing grid flexibility and clean energy availability across the south-east,” says Scowen.
“It allows for coordinated flexibility across the grid, avoiding bottlenecks and unlocking the full potential of distributed generation without expensive hardware upgrades.”
For small energy providers, Scowen says the MWD platform lowers the barrier to entry by reducing connection times and complexity, while also opening up new ways of generating revenue.
Scowen says the new platform can also help the UK meet net-zero targets through improved grid access.
According to the Climate Action Tracker, the UK’s overall rating for climate targets and policies is currently insufficient, with “substantial improvements” needed to be consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature limit, so improved access to renewables is timely and important.
“By enabling faster DER onboarding – up to 10 years ahead of schedule in some cases – and creating dynamic access to flexibility markets, it ensures that clean energy can be generated, stored and deployed more efficiently,” he says. “It also supports system balancing at peak times, reducing the need for carbon-intensive standby generation.”
Outages and cloud
One of the major talking points of the MWD platform is its capability in supporting the management of outages and disruptions.
According to Scowen, this is achieved through real-time insights on DER availability, which allows grid operators to reroute power or adjust generation quickly to maintain service during faults or local failures.
“Using DevSecOps and site reliability engineering, the platform was built to maintain stability under pressure – ensuring grid operators can react fast without compromising performance or security,” he explains. “It’s an important advantage in a world where decentralised systems require agile, localised responses.”
The MWD platform was also built on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform, which Scowen says allows operators to process large volumes of data in real time, automate decisions and “respond dynamically” to changes on the grid.
According to Scowen, cloud technology is “essential” for modernising the energy system.
“As grids become more complex and decentralised, cloud platforms provide the flexibility, speed and intelligence needed to manage vast data flows, automate responses and support real-time coordination between energy providers and system operators,” he says.
“It allows energy systems to adapt in real time, connect more distributed assets and create smarter, more agile infrastructure that supports the UK’s transition to net zero.”
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
