SSEN Distribution launched a data portal on 1 September 2023 giving open access to its load-modelling data, developed in partnership with the net zero data specialists Icebreaker One and supported by Microsoft and its Azure platform1. The company said it is the first energy network provider in the UK to work with Icebreaker One to build such a platform1.
The portal publishes anonymised and aggregated data under the standard Creative Commons international licence, and users can reach it through direct downloads and an application programming interface (API)1. It also carries data-led visualisations intended to make the information easier to interpret1. With Microsoft's support, SSEN said it will automate data uploads directly from the source so the latest figures are always available, and it will actively seek user feedback on data quality and metrics1.
Michael Glass, Data Governance and Information Manager for SSEN Distribution, said the data would let users see customer usage patterns and identify where the network has capacity:
"By using this anonymised and aggregated data, greater insight into customer usage patterns is readily available and therefore empowers individuals, local councils and businesses to install more EV charging points that will benefit local EV driver, electrified public transport and fleet vehicles, and even customers with electric bikes and scooters."
Glass added that the portal would help identify network capacity hotspots, which SSEN said would speed up the installation of heat pumps and solar panels1. Gavin Starks, founder and chief executive of Icebreaker One, said opening up the data would get more electric vehicles on the road, more heat pumps into houses and more homes kept warm by better insulation1.
SSEN said the load-modelling data shared at launch is the first of many deliveries, with later releases drawing on advances in information and accuracy1. No further dates for those releases have been reported1.
Why it matters for households
Decisions about a home's energy independence often depend on data a householder cannot see: how much spare capacity exists on the local network, and where. That information sits with the distribution network operator, and it shapes what is practical at a given property, from a heat pump or solar panels to an electric vehicle charger1. SSEN's stated aim is that publishing this data lets councils, businesses and individuals identify capacity hotspots and act on them1. The data is anonymised and aggregated, so it describes patterns of use in an area rather than any individual home1. For householders and the people advising them, the practical change is that network capacity information for SSEN's distribution areas is now available directly, under an open licence, rather than only on request1.
What happens next
SSEN said the launch data is the first of several deliveries and that it will seek user feedback on data quality and metrics1. It has not reported a schedule for the releases that follow1. The portal is at data.ssen.co.uk1.