Electric power, transport and city risk
EY, Foresight Group, Arup and Cross River Partnership have all been discussing the risks and opportunities for future electric power investment and management in our cities.
This was an important round table discussion held in advance of our next large Future Cities Forum, 'Intelligent Cities' on 3rd July, at White City Place, London.
Councils, investors, architects and planners will gather to discuss the proper design and planning of our cities, the role of data in this and the change-over in the next few years to accommodate new modes of transport, electric vehicles and streamlined mobility.
Nissan joined our City Hall, London forum in May suggesting that to push forward electric vehicle adoption the UK, the government should offer incentives for those interested in buying electric cars by offering subsidies and councils allowing those drivers special use of bus lanes and parking spaces.
The UK is currently lagging behind countries such as the Netherlands in electric vehicle adoption and this is slowing up improvement in air quality in UK cities.
Director in EY’s Global Energy team, Chris Pateman-Jones, stated:
‘There is clearly a massive opportunity for electric vehicle adoption in cities, as governments put restrictions on investigating and developing new sources of traditional energy.
‘Hitting targets however is potentially difficult – there is a real question around bringing all parties together to collaborate. These include the energy providers and the power companies, the automotive manufacturers and consumers, as well as the government and the regulators. The government and the regulators both need to step up because they are the linking factor in the ecosystem. Electric vehicles are a good test case for the government, as the move to autonomous vehicles will be even more complex.’
Partner at Foresight Group, Dan Wells added:
'It’s important to look at the experiences of the last few years as there is the assumption that the private sector will roll into an area once there has been some government stimulus. For instance, the subsidies set up in the renewable energy sector provided the rocket fuel that gave investors the incentive to put money in. Investing in battery storage seems a logical next step, but the revenue streams are much more volatile and complex than those in solar power, for instance. You need to be able to apply an infrastructure investment approach to this new world of energy, transport and real estate.'
Please watch Chris Pateman-Jones (above) and Dan Wells (below) speaking on these points at our round table.
We will discuss new models for freight deliveries and the human aspects of designing infrastructure with Tom Linton Smith from Cross River Partnership and Arup's Heleni Pantelidou in our next newsletter this week.
Please watch Chris Pateman-Jones of EY above and Dan Wells of Foresight below.