How Can We Use Good Technology to Scale the Green Energy Sector?

A event showcasing inspirational emerging technologies that are helping us overcome barriers to scale the UK's clean energy sector The UK’s energy network currently faces some significant barriers to complete decarbonisation. Massive capital costs, a shortage of specialised skills, grid connection delays for green or community-led generators are just a few of them. But bit by bit, people are coming together to build solutions across the whole sector. During this event we’ll hear from speakers about how they are developing technology that helps chip away at the complexity of energy decarbonisation. From open source platforms that help energy advisors work more effectively to scale community energy uptake, to platforms that optimise the uptake of community-generated power, these innovations are at the forefront of green energy. We’ll hear from speakers on how these projects can be scaled, replicated, and learnt from to create a more collaborative and joined-up energy sector based on truly ‘good’ technology. The Speakers Richard Edwards, Outlandish. Richard will talk about Nook, the case management system that Outlandish has been building in partnership with the community energy sector. Funded by the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme, Nook is improving the effectiveness with which community energy groups can deliver projects, which in turn helps scale the sector. Moreover, Nook is completely open source and API-rich, meaning that the whole sector can contribute to new features and share in the benefits. He’ll also discuss Nook’s potential uses for related areas such as retrofit and energy generation, helping green energy organisations improve their operations without the need to build new tech from scratch. Connie Duxbury, Younity. Connie will showcase their brand new Community Power Clubs, built by Octopus and Younity to match community-owned generation to domestic and business customers to create more value for all involved, and Connect, their free volunteering platform to match professionals with community energy projects in the UK. Somayeh Taheri, UrbanChain. Somayeh will discuss why the next phase of the energy transition is not simply about building more renewable generation, but about creating the digital market infrastructure needed to connect and coordinate millions of distributed energy assets. Drawing on her experience designing new energy market models, she will explore how technology can remove barriers between generators, consumers and communities, enabling local energy markets to operate at scale and unlocking new ways for people to participate directly in the energy system. As energy systems become increasingly decentralised, digital platforms will play a critical role in automating coordination, improving transparency and reducing the complexity of energy transactions. Somayeh will share her perspective on how market design and technology can work together to accelerate the transition to a more flexible, resilient and community-focused energy future. Hybrid event information https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87651283559 Meeting ID: 876 5128 3559 About Outlandish Outlandish is a worker-owned tech co-operative partnering with civil society organisations to design, build, and improve the complex digital infrastructure that powers their work. For more than ten years, Outlandish has built projects in partnership with climate activists, scientists, and campaign groups including Greenpeace and Tranquil City. Since 2024 Outlandish has been building Nook, an open source case management system for and with the community energy sector. Nook helps community energy groups deliver projects more effectively, which in turn helps scale the sector. Outlandish Website: https://outlandish.com Nook Website: https://nookcrm.com About the Venue Outlandish runs SPACE4, Islington's cooperative tech space for social change. SPACE4 is where tech, coops, and people who give a damn come together. We provide affordable workspace, networking and training events. We are a hub for social innovators and digital activists. Don’t hesitate to get in touch or visit us. SPACE4 Website: https://space4.tech Follow us on socials: https://linktr.ee/space4coop