Three major UK utility providers, Anglian Water, BT and UK Power Networks have formed a new partnership with the National Digital Twin programme to deliver a digital twin across energy, water and telecoms networks
Delivered through the government-funded National Digital Twin programme (NDTp), Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) will develop, for the first time in the UK, a digital twin across energy, water and telecoms networks to provide a practical example of how connected data can improve climate adaptation and resilience.
The CReDo project will look at the impact of flooding caused by climate change on energy, water and telecoms networks. It will demonstrate how those who own and operate them can use secure information sharing, across sector boundaries, to mitigate the effect of flooding on network performance and ensure reliable service delivery to customers.
Anglian Water, BT and UK Power Networks will use their asset and operations data combined with data supplied by the Met Office to inform an increased level of infrastructure resilience.
The project will be delivered through a collaboration of research centres and industry partners – The Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Exeter, Newcastle and Warwick will work alongside the Hartree Centre, DAFNI, Science and Technology Facilities Council, CMCL Innovations, the Joint Centre of Excellence in Environmental Intelligence and Mott MacDonald. It is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Connected Places Catapult and the University of Cambridge.
Share data across a secure platform
Using an Information Management Framework (IMF) approach, which is being developed through the NDTp, CReDO will enable the partners to share data across a secure platform.
CReDo will demonstrate the capability of the IMF approach to connect digital twins in a principled, scalable way to inform decision making in capital and operational planning, reducing the cost and disruptive impact of extreme weather events and increasing resilience.
CReDo project lead and author of the report ‘Data for the Public Good’, Sarah Hayes, said: “We are really excited for what we can deliver through CReDo: demonstration that connected digital twins can enable increased climate resilience and that collaboration across a team that spans industry, academia and government forms the pieces of the puzzle that unlock solutions to reaching net zero.”
