Today’s All-Energy Exhibition and Conference brought together industry leaders to explore some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon energy system.

Decarbonising the Future Distribution Grid

A standout session focused on “Decarbonising the Future Distribution Grid: Challenges, Opportunities & Emerging Solutions.”

Dr Graeme Hawker (Lead – WP1, ENSIGN – IES-DT Project) delivered an engaging and insightful presentation on the evolving distribution landscape and the innovations required to enable a low-carbon future.

Presenting alongside Allison Strachan, Senior Energy Specialist at the Centre for Energy Equality and Mark Goudie, Head of Strategic Projects & Optimisation at SP Energy Networks, the session emphasised:

  • The importance of collaboration across the sector
  • The need for practical, scalable solutions
  • The significant opportunities ahead as the grid evolves

Overall, it was a thought-provoking discussion with valuable insights for those working to accelerate progress towards net zero.

Electricity System Resilience

The session “Electricity System Resilience: Securing Power in an Increasingly Electrified World”, led by ENSIGN Advisory Board member Professor Keith Bell, highlighted the growing importance of resilience in modern energy systems.
Key discussion points included:

  • Weather variability is already shaping system performance—requiring it to be designed into future planning
  • Resilience is not just about avoiding disruption, but ensuring systems can respond and recover effectively
  • Rising electrification increases the importance of a secure, reliable supply

The core takeaway was clear: resilience must sit alongside decarbonisation as a fundamental priority.

It was encouraging to see strong engagement from colleagues in the discussion on “Hydrogen at Scale: Lessons from Scotland for a Global Transition” at the All-Energy Conference.

The panel featured leading experts, including Dr Paul Connor (University of St Andrews), contributing to the ENSIGN project’s Hydrogen Sub-Digital Twin (WP4), and Dr Sudhagar Pitchaimuthu, Associate Director at the Energy Materials and Technology Research Centre, Heriot-Watt University.

The discussion highlighted hydrogen’s growing importance within future integrated energy systems—not only as a low-carbon energy vector, but also as a key enabler of flexibility, storage, and system resilience when integrated with electricity networks, renewable generation, heat, and industrial demand.

These themes closely align with the ENSIGN project, where the hydrogen sub-digital twin is being developed as part of a broader integrated energy system digital twin, alongside complementary models for electricity, heat, and industrial clusters.

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