The small Strathclyde university spinout  which was early recognised by Scottish and Southern Energy and used in early Orkney work “more than 10,000 hours of operational experience with Scottish & Southern Energy on the Orkney Isles where our technology is at the heart of one of the first major Smart Grid," says (right) SGS MD Alan Gooding.

SGS will now to play a key role in one of four low carbon schemes that regulator Ofgem is funding to encourage smart grid development that could accelerate the move to a low carbon economy.

Grids intended to help transmission infrastructure that has been in place for decades, when empowered as smart can cope with the demands imposed by new power generation systems and low carbon technologies.

The contract is a deserved success for Smarter Grid Solutions, which will work with industrial giants such as Siemens and National Grid on the project and Smarter Grid Solutions expects to increase its employee numbers from 20 to 35 to support the project.

Formed by the engineering entrepreneur Alan Gooding, Professor Graham Ault and Dr Robert Currie, SGS developed ways of using information and communications technology to overcome some of the limitations of the existing grid, including Dynamic Line Rating, active network management, use of SGi algorithms and working around network voltage constraints.

The capacity of power lines tends to be fixed, irrespective of prevailing weather conditions. Increasing use of electricity to power cars in place of petrol will impose big demands on power grids.

Gooding said Smarter Grid Solution’s systems can boost the efficiency of grids and make them compatible with new technologies such as solar power and biomass without requiring heavy physical investment.

SGS software can send instructions to windfarms to adjust the amount of power they generate automatically, tailoring capacity available in power lines and switching on heating systems on in homes when power can be supplied most efficiently.

Robert Armour, thelawyer.com former general counsel at British Energy, the nuclear generator, recently became chairman at the firm which The Herald records as expecting  revenues of £420,000 for year end to March.

TCP license Scotland's offshore Robin Rigg
Transmission Capital Partners (TCP) has secured the first licence from energy regulator Ofgem to operate a high voltage link with the Solway Firth Robin Rigg offshore wind farm.

TCP ( comprise of International Public Partnerships Ltd, Amber Infrastructure Group & Transmission Capital Ltd) was preferred bidder for three out of the seven projects awarded under Ofgem’s first long-term licence and operation tenders for offshore transmission assets.

The projects relate to the transmission cable connections to the offshore wind farms at Barrow, Gunfleet Sands and Robin Rigg.

A newly created company, to be known as TC Robin Rigg OFTO Ltd in the Solway Firth, will now hold a Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) Licence to operate the £65m link transporting renewable electricity from 180MW Robin Rigg wind farm to the onshore grid for a period of 20 years. As part of the licence grant, the transmission link transferred from wind farm owner E.on, to the OFTO.

The acquisition of the transmission assets is a result of competitive tendering for offshore links under the OFTO regime. It represents the first injection of the projected billions of pounds of new capital into the offshore wind industry arising from the new regime. Ofgem views this as critical to ensure sufficient investment is forthcoming to deliver the UK’s energy infrastructure needs.

Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem's CEO, said: "This milestone highlights how the offshore transmission regulatory regime has successfully attracted new entrants and fresh sources of investment in the GB transmission sector. This will go towards delivering some of the £200 billion worth of investment in energy infrastructure that Britain needs.

“Overall, the regime is expected to deliver investment of a total value of around £20bn, while ensuring these links are built on time and provide good value for consumers’ money.”

Charles Hendry, (right) Energy Minister  said: “We must do all we can to ensure a safe, secure, low carbon, affordable energy mix for the future. Getting infrastructure in place to support the move to low carbon is crucial. As we can see from the award of this landmark first licence, it is a real investment opportunity."