Research and analysis

This report, commissioned by Innovate UK, reviews the barriers and potential solutions that will enable decentralised energy to play a full role in decarbonisation, innovation, and delivering positive outcomes for citizens and communities. Jeff Hardy, Jess Britton and Laura Sandys co-authored the report.

• You can access the summary report at this link.

• The full report is available at this link.

Since 2017, Dr Jeff Hardy has been working with Laura Sandys and energy businesses to shape the future of energy regulation. Our work, over three reports, has informed businesses, governments, regulators and consumer champions around the world. 

Dr Jeff Hardy worked with the Energy Systems Catapult on their Smart Systems and Heat Phase 2 project. Together with Dr Christoph Mazur our work involved:

1. Identifying archetypes of energy service provider business models through desk-based research.

2. Using a backcasting approach to identify plausible pathways to energy market transformation.

3. Working with energy experts to identify what is required for energy service business models to thrive.​

The Utility 2050 project was a partnership of energy industry professionals, financiers and academics with a shared objective to explore what net-zero could mean for the energy sector. Dr Jeff Hardy was a member of the academic research team. The main findings were:

1. New value of up to £21 billion per year is available to electricity utilities in the UK.

2. Customer segments exist for innovative energy business models, but some customers could be barred.

3. Policy and regulatory decisions are required to enable new business models to thrive.

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Dr Jeff Hardy was a Co-investigator in the Energy Revolution Research Consortium, part of the £100 million Prospering from the Energy Revolution Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Dr Hardy led EnergyREV's work on smart, local energy system governance. Key publications include:

• Working Paper 1: Electricity Storage and Electric Vehicles

• Working Paper 2: Digital Energy Platforms

• Working Paper 3: Decarbonisation of Heat

• ​Post-Pandemic Recovery: How Smart Local Energy Systems Can Contribute

• The most important decisions to enable the implementation of smart local energy systems