Resilience Of The Rural Electricity Network To Meet Net Zero Impacts

As the UK advances towards its Net Zero objectives, electrification becomes pivotal in decarbonizing heating, transportation, and other sectors traditionally reliant on fossil fuels. Rural areas, while integral to renewable energy generation through wind turbines and solar farms, encounter distinct challenges in adopting electric-based technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. These challenges stem from the complexities of retrofitting older buildings and the logistical hurdles of infrastructure development in sparsely populated regions.

Historically, the deployment of infrastructures such as mobile telephony, fibre broadband, and mains gas has lagged in rural areas due to market-driven approaches, leading to disparities in service provision. This uneven development suggests that while some rural communities are progressing towards electrification, experiences vary, and the underlying factors influencing these transitions remain inadequately understood. The market offers a range of technologies for electricity generation—solar panels, micro-hydrogeneration, wind turbines—and for domestic applications like heat pumps, electric radiators, EVs, and energy storage batteries. However, the adoption rates and integration of these technologies in rural settings are inconsistent.

This project seeks to gather expert insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with electrifying rural communities using sustainable energy sources. The research is structured into three phases:

  1. Expert Interviews: Conducting semi-structured interviews with professionals from energy providers, policy-making bodies, and civil society organizations to explore technical challenges, necessary adaptations for rural residents, and the broader benefits of electrification. An electricity network expert will co-develop the interview framework to ensure comprehensive coverage of pertinent issues.
  2. Gloucestershire Case Study: Utilizing data from the Office for National Statistics and census information to analyze household-level factors such as composition, property types, heating methods, income levels, health demographics, travel habits, and deprivation indices. This analysis will inform the development of scenarios that support household transitions to electrification, considering the diverse socio-economic landscape of rural Gloucestershire.
  3. Scenario Testing: Presenting the developed scenarios to a focus group of experts and community focus groups to evaluate their feasibility. Discussions will identify critical barriers, essential enablers, and potential policy interventions to facilitate the adoption of electrification technologies in rural households.

The culmination of this research will be a concise report. Findings will be disseminated through a public webinar to maximize outreach and inform stakeholders about effective strategies for advancing rural electrification in alignment with the UK’s Net Zero ambitions.

CCRI Ref: 2022-130