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NOVA

Note
The NDTP’s collaboration with the National Energy System Operator (NESO), supporting the Virtual Energy System (VES) through collaborative development on the Integration Architecture (IA) is ongoing. For more details on that collaboration, please visit the Collaborations section of our website. While there are overlapping themes in data and scope, NOVA is focused on exploring digital twin applications for renewable energy expansion and grid flexibility at a regional level, with a particular emphasis on the Isle of Wight’s energy transition goals.

Current Status
Discovery – Early Concept Development & Stakeholder Engagement – The Energy System demonstrator has undergone extensive engagement with energy companies, regulatory bodies (e.g., Ofgem), local authorities, and renewable energy developers. Through a series of three workshops and stakeholder discussions, key requirements have been synthesised into a focused approach: developing a digital shadow to explore how the Isle of Wight could generate 300MW of new renewable energy​.

Future Development
Moving Toward Experimental Prototype – Work is now shifting towards developing an initial prototype of the digital shadow, focusing on integrating diverse renewable energy sources (wind, solar, tidal, and battery storage) while ensuring alignment with national energy transition goals.

Overview

What it is

NOVA is an early-stage digital twin demonstrator designed to model and optimise the integration of renewable energy generation and storage on the Isle of Wight. It functions as a digital shadow (see Digital Twin definition for more information), enabling stakeholders to simulate, assess, and refine different energy deployment strategies.

What problem it addresses

The increasing shift towards decentralised, renewable energy systems presents a significant challenge that demands a nuanced understanding of energy generation, demand, and storage dynamics. As an early-stage digital twin demonstrator, NOVA will address this by modelling renewable energy integration scenarios to assess the feasibility of generating 300MW of new renewable capacity. NOVA aims to explore interactions between diverse generation assets—including wind, solar, and tidal—with battery storage providing flexibility.

The tool will help users understand optimal placement of these solutions within defined geographical areas, accounting for the UK’s ageing grid infrastructure where reinforcements are expensive and time-consuming. This will enable development of sustainable energy portfolios that minimise vulnerability to single-source intermittency while facilitating faster grid connections.

NOVA will provide decision-support tools specifically designed to help planners, regulators, and energy operators optimise investment strategies and infrastructure planning, ultimately facilitating a more sustainable energy transition.

How it contributes to the National Digital Twin vision:

NOVA is being designed to support the development of the National Digital Twin Programme’s Integration Architecture (IA) and Information Exchange Standard (IES) by pushing the boundaries of data integration capabilities. It will contribute by enabling the ingestion of real-time energy data essential for advanced modelling of renewable asset deployment across the UK. The demonstrator may also help extend the IES through the development of domain-specific extensions and by offering opportunities to align the IES ontology with the Common Information Model (CIM).

The demonstrator will require the integration of not only data but models, and will therefore begin to examine the requirements or protocols which need to introduced to do this successfully.

Who We Are Working With

Lead stakeholders & collaborators:

  • Isle of Wight Council & Local Energy Community Groups – Strategic oversight, planning, and local policy alignment.
  • Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) – Distribution network operator responsible for electrical infrastructure.
  • Renewable energy developers – Companies deploying wind, solar, and tidal energy assets, as well as battery storage systems.
  • Regulatory bodies (Ofgem, DESNZ) – Policy oversight and regulatory guidance for energy market participation.

Why We Are Doing This

1. Testing digital twin capabilities for energy system planning

NOVA is a testbed for digital twin applications in the energy sector, helping to:

  • Validate how IA can handle high-volume, real-time energy data ingestion and processing.
  • Expand IES to include standardised energy system data models, facilitating cross-sector interoperability.
  • Develop new APIs for renewable energy system simulation, integrating data from diverse sources​ – Energy System.

2. Supporting the UK’s Net-Zero transition

  • Provides strategic insights into renewable energy deployment, guiding local and national grid investment.
  • Optimises the use of distributed energy resources, improving grid stability and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
  • Enhances energy resilience and flexibility, incorporating battery storage modelling for demand-side management​ – Energy System.

Key Innovations & Next Steps

1. Developing a Digital Shadow for Renewable Energy Planning

  • Integrating geospatial and temporal energy data, enabling scenario modelling for renewables and storage deployment.
  • Creating a decision-support tool, helping stakeholders assess the most viable pathways to achieving 300MW of renewable capacity.

2. Refining Data-Sharing & Interoperability

  • Enhancing IA’s ability to process large-scale energy datasets.
  • Expanding the IES ontology for energy systems, ensuring compatibility with existing national energy datasets​.

3. Moving Towards Experimental Prototyping

  • Developing an initial interactive prototype, allowing stakeholders to test and refine energy deployment scenarios.
  • Engaging with energy regulators and policymakers to align digital twin outputs with future policy needs​.

Technical details

Architecture & frameworks used

  • Built using NDTP’s Integration Architecture (IA) for scalable, secure, and interoperable data-sharing.
  • Designed as a geospatial energy modelling platform, enabling real-time visualisation of renewable energy assets.

Data & interoperability considerations

  • Exploring opportunities for enhanced data mapping and ontology alignment by leveraging CIM, a widely used standard in the energy sector, to improve interoperability and consistency across datasets.
  • Exploring real-time data integrations, enabling dynamic simulation of energy production and demand scenarios.

Get Involved

As NOVA is still in its early development stage, opportunities to engage are currently focused on shaping requirements and future testing. You can get involved by:

  • Providing input on requirements – Organisations with expertise in energy systems, renewables, and grid flexibility can help refine key use cases and data needs.
  • Joining the tester community – Once a prototype is developed, early adopters will have the opportunity to trial and validate NOVA’s capabilities in real-world scenarios.
  • Sharing knowledge & best practices – Contributions to policy, standards, and interoperability discussions will help ensure that NOVA aligns with existing energy frameworks.

If you’re interested in contributing or staying informed, get in touch via ndtp@businessandtrade.co.uk.