An Energy Revolution for the Market Town of Caldicot
Case Study
The Challenge
The small town of Caldicot, in Monmouthshire, wanted to explore long and short-term, variable energy scenarios that accommodate increasing use of technology and renewable energy with less reliance on gas and imports, as well as network capabilities.
Caldicot currently has a large solar PV farm, with potential to add a central heat pump from waste water and plans to expand the town with new homes.
The Development
- Assimilation of baseline data (heat/power, transport needs, local generation potential)
- Design, build and run a multi-vector model to optimise heat, power and transport through ‘time-of-use’ tariffs
- Development of business model
- Assessment of regulatory/policy challenges.
The Results
The project explored multiple scenarios over time and evaluates energy usage (supply and demand, imports and exports, efficiency) costs and emissions. The muliti-vector model, known as Jigsaw, accounted for variable increases in technology, such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and vehicle-to-grid chargepoints, as well as infrastructure. The model outputs will inform the town’s future strategic decisions.