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New Energy Resilience Framework launched by Arup designed to help future-proof energy systems

Sarah Wright - Communications Coordinator Sarah Wright UKIMEA Press Office,London
4 September 2019

A high-level Energy Resilience Framework has been launched by global engineering and consultancy firm, Arup, to support those responsible for energy systems in evaluating their overall resilience to disruptors and identifying improvement measures.

The broad framework facilitates evaluation of system resilience not only by considering the physical assets, but also by acknowledging the equal importance of other non-technical factors such as leadership, policies, institution and human factors. 

It has been designed to frame resilience evaluation by any decision maker in the energy value chain across the world; governments, regulators, investors, generators, customers, owners, transmission and distribution companies. Its flexibility and range mean it can be applied to different scales of energy system and can also be used for components of these systems, including generation assets or regulations. 

Alan Thomson, Arup's Global Energy Systems Leader explained "We live in an interconnected world and depend on reliable energy provision to perform everyday activities from commuting to work and switching lights on, to keeping data servers running and water supplies flowing. Faced with increasingly unpredictable climactic events, weather systems and a growing reliance on digitalisation, resilient energy provision has never been so critical. We have designed the framework to help our clients challenge their resilience plans, enabling energy systems to reliably meet our energy needs in the face of an increasingly complex stressor landscape."

The Energy Resilience Framework identifies 11 goals built around three core dimensions to analyse and shape system resilience. The three dimensions are:

  • Leadership and Strategy: The alignment of policy, practices and informed decision-making within and between public and private sector organisations. This ensures the stability and sustainability of the energy supply, especially to support critical services such as healthcare.

  • Economy and Society: The social and economic systems that enable the formation and operation of energy systems and connect their function to economic and social outcomes.

  • Infrastructure and Ecosystems: The quality of the built and natural systems that enable energy transformation and ensure supply to end users.

Faced with increasingly unpredictable climactic events, weather systems and a growing reliance on digitalisation, resilient energy provision has never been so critical. ” Ian Gardner Ian Gardner Former Global Energy Systems Leader

The 11 goals are underpinned by 66 indicators, which bring further definition to the goals and indicate the critical factors that contribute towards energy resilience. 

The Energy Resilience Framework draws heavily on Arup’s multi-disciplinary resilience experience across the built environment. Previous resilience frameworks developed by Arup over the last five years include the City Resilience Index (CRI) which Arup developed with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, and the City Water Resilience Framework (CWRF), developed in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Resilience Shift. 

Read more about the Energy Resilience Framework

Energy Resilience Framework Energy Resilience Framework
Future-proofing energy systems: The Arup Energy Resilience Framework