04 Aug 2009 12:08:05
Ofgem proposes smart grid cities to cut carbon emissions
Ofgem has revealed a £6.5 billion investment proposal to cut the carbon dioxide produced from regional electricity networks.
Under the terms of the plan, a £500 million Low Carbon Networks Fund would be established to help encourage the development of industrial-scale trials and commercial initiatives for green technologies.
The energy regulator also laid out plans for the creation of four "smart grid cities", in which households will be equipped with smart energy meters to trial the technology on a large scale.
It is hoped that the ambitious initiative will help to overhaul the national electricity grid and move it away from a centralised system dependent on fossil fuels to a network of smaller units powered by renewable energy sources such as wind.
Alistair Buchanan, chief executive for Ofgem, said: "Our electricity network proposals are tough but fair and will deliver for energy consumers today and in the future.
"We have proposed ambitious new incentives and funding to deliver the networks we will need in a low-carbon economy."
The smart grid cities will provide the government with important data as to the viability of its plans to rollout smart meters across the entire country by 2020.
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