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Guru Pinpoint is a potentially game-changing web-based platform that allows heat network operators and designers to visualise performance data, remotely diagnose the causes of inefficiency, and view interventions ranked by cost, performance improvement and projected payback period.
Using machine learning algorithms, Guru Systems analysed consumption data from more than 20 heat networks across the UK. This data was used to identify the causes of inefficiency and propose interventions to improve performance. Extensive physical interventions were then carried out on three of the networks.
These trials, the information gathered by the consultants carrying out the improvements and the data coming from the sites allowed Guru Systems to build the platform. The range of data inputs to the platform is key. Pinpoint is designed to analyse data from serviced properties and from the plant room, as well as data on the volume of gas used by the central plant, power consumed by pumps, sensors for flow temperature, return temperature and flow rates in flats.Guru Pinpoint tracks performance across heat networks from generation to distribution, with algorithms trained to recognise patterns in the problems they discover, allowing the platform to evolve constantly as it receives more and more data.
The platform was launched in April 2016 and is now being used on 67 heat networks serving more than 4,000 homes, providing crucial efficiency data on flow and return temperatures, peak load data and customer demand profiles. Other benefits include:
• Operators can save up to 35% on their M&E (monitoring and evaluation) capital cost by sizing networks correctly using data gathered from sites. In DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) validated figures, estimates suggest that Guru Pinpoint could save UK heat networks £400 million in reduced energy costs over the next decade.
• More efficient heat networks mean lower tariffs. On one of the test sites, Guru Pinpoint saw residents’ tariff reduced from 7.7p to 3.8p per kWh.
• Guru Pinpoint allows operators to locate problems and provides costed measures for improvement. One installation improved efficiency by 68% and saw an 80% cost saving in pump room energy.
• DECC validated fi gures show that this technology has the potential to reduce input fuel use by between 33 and 51% on existing heat networks, equating to average savings of £179 per home per year.