‘Working Smart to Get to Net Zero’ Project Announced as C21 2021 Energy & Environment Winner

The award recognizes the collaboration between National Grid and global power technology company Smart Wires on the development and installation of the world’s first large-scale use of modular power flow control. Omexom was selected as the EPC partner, providing engineering and construction services for the innovative project. Bringing the expertise and experience of all project partners together was essential to its success.

The project involved deploying cutting-edge modular power flow control technology, SmartValve™, on five circuits at three National Grid substation sites in the north of England in 2021, releasing a total of 1.5 GW of extra network capacity. This is enough to power one million homes in the UK with renewable energy.

SmartValve technology works by intelligently routing power to circuits that have spare capacity, allowing National Grid to maximize the use of its existing network.

With the increasing volume of renewable generation seeking to connect to the network, NGET saw a pressing need for even more capacity in this area. This year, National Grid is expanding the use of the innovative technology on its UK network by installing additional SmartValve™ devices to meet the increasing need for additional network capacity.