The strategy was announced at SONI's annual business breakfast event with the leaders of Northern Ireland's main business representative organisations.
To initiate the engagement programme, the grid operator initiated an extensive survey to ensure that the perspectives of consumers, partners, and stakeholders profoundly influence the organisation's forthcoming multi-year strategy and funding proposal to the Utility Regulator.
As a regulated entity, SONI secures funding through a multi-year financial framework called a Price Control, contingent upon a proposed Business Plan.
SONI's next Business Strategy and Price Control submission will be delivered in the context of Northern Ireland’s 2030 statutory renewable energy targets and the grid operator is expected to prioritise a programme of work which supports the delivery of government policy in a way which balances the needs consumers, partners, stakeholders and customers.
As an independently licensed Transmission System Operator without ownership of grid assets or involvement in electricity generation or sales, SONI aims to use its expertise and experience to serve as a trusted advisor to policymakers. This support is intended to facilitate Northern Ireland's transition towards achieving net zero emissions.
Speaking about the launch of the engagement programme, SONI Chief Executive, Alan Campbell, said:
"We're entering into a new, exciting phase on our journey as Northern Ireland's Transmission System Operator. The targets to ensure 80% of all electricity consumed comes from renewable sources by 2030, and our wider 2050 net zero obligations, are hugely challenging in their scale, pace and complexity, but they also offer great opportunity. Achieving them will require a further deepening of the collaboration that has made our region a world leader in the past.
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"As critical enabling infrastructure, the Northern Ireland high voltage electricity grid needs to be transformed in an unprecedented way, both in a physical and operational context. We also need to develop new innovative solutions to enable SONI to manage an electricity grid being supplied with world-leading levels of weather-dependent forms of generation. Our Strategy 2020-2025 and our Shaping Our Electricity Future Roadmap set out a pathway for ensuring the grid can support Northern Ireland’s renewable energy ambitions and we have made significant progress in the last five years.
"But we know we can’t do this by ourselves. With less than six years until 2030, our new multi-year Strategy and regulatory Business Plan is a vital opportunity to engage meaningfully with all our partners and stakeholders to understand their priorities, reaffirm our mission to enable a cleaner, more secure energy future for everyone in Northern Ireland and position ourselves as a trusted adviser to policymakers."
SONI plans to deliver its survey with a multifaceted engagement initiative. This includes conducting in-depth interviews, hosting workshops, organising engagement events and facilitating formal consultations. These efforts aim to foster collaboration with partners and stakeholders in shaping future plans. Additionally, SONI intends to conduct consumer research to ascertain their priorities.
Head of Commercial and Regulation, Kevin O’Neill, said: "Northern Ireland was among the first power systems in the world to be able to facilitate 75% of renewable electricity on the grid at any moment in time and reached the previous 40% renewable energy target a year early. This was the result of extensive whole system collaboration between SONI, our counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, EirGrid, NIE Networks, regulatory partners and industry.
"As Northern Ireland’s grid operator, we know that we can only collectively achieve this once-in-a-generation energy transition by working together. While the funding made available to SONI makes up a very small part of the electricity bill, we have a much bigger impact on the energy landscape in Northern Ireland and we understand the importance of offering excellent value for money for consumers.
"By engaging extensively and consistently with our partners and stakeholders at the earliest possible stage, we hope to instil the trust and confidence of consumers that their investment in SONI is an investment in a world class Transmission System Operator working for everyone in Northern Ireland.
"This is just the beginning of a comprehensive programme of engagement over the coming months, and I would encourage everyone to come forward and help us co-develop our vision and plans for the future."
