Across the world, utilities are under increasing pressure to deliver more capacity and more reliability, while managing ageing infrastructure, constrained budgets, and ambitious electrification targets.
From electric vehicles and heat pumps to distributed generation and urban growth, demand on low voltage (LV) networks is rising faster than traditional reinforcement programmes can keep pace with. In this environment, releasing capacity from existing assets is no longer optional; it is a critical lever for meeting connection targets without escalating cost and risk.
The Global Capacity Challenge in LV Networks
Historically, LV networks have operated as a blind spot. While higher-voltage levels benefit from extensive monitoring, LV feeders and assets have often been planned and operated based on assumptions rather than real-time data.
The result is not just inefficiency; it has a direct commercial impact:
- Capacity constraints are overestimated, limiting new connections unnecessarily
- Reinforcement is triggered too early, locking in avoidable capital spend
- Network risk is misinterpreted, leading to conservative planning decisions
- Connection timelines extend, delaying electrification and customer delivery
At the same time, traditional approaches still rely onreactive fault detection, often only after customer impact occurs,when the opportunity to prevent disruption has already passed.
As electrification accelerates globally, this model is no longer sustainable.
What Does “Capacity Release” Really Mean?
Capacity release is not about pushing assets harder. It is about removing uncertainty so operators can safely use what already exists.
In practical terms, it enables utilities to:
- Identify genuine network headroom, not assumed limits
- Operate assets within known, evidence-based thresholds
- Defer or avoid unnecessary reinforcement investment
- Accelerate connections without increasing risk exposure
It turns LV networks from static, assumption-driven systems into actively managed, optimised assets.
This is where PRESense, Camlin Energy’s LV network monitoring solution, is helping network operators unlock measurable value from the infrastructure they already own.
How PRESense Enables Capacity Release
PRESense provides continuous, high‑resolution visibility into LV network behaviour, giving operators the data they need to make confident, risk‑based decisions.
1. Real‑Time LV Network Visibility
PRESense monitors LV feeders to provide:
- Actual loading and utilisation patterns
- True peak demand behaviour (not modelled assumptions)
- Variability across time, seasons, and customer usage
This allows operators to distinguish between perceived constraints and real limitations, often revealing usable capacity that would otherwise remain locked.
2. Identifying Usable Network Capacity
By analysing real-world network behaviour, PRESense highlights:
- Where spare headroom already exists
- Which feeders are approaching true limits
- Where additional demand can be safely accommodated
This enables faster, evidence-based connection approvals, reducing delays without increasing operational risk.
3. Protecting Assets While Optimising Capacity
Releasing capacity only works if asset health is protected.
PRESense combines capacity insight with:
- Early fault detection, often identifying issues days or weeks before escalation
- Predictive indicators, including likelihood of permanent faults or fuse rupture
- Detection of subtle network disturbances, such as harmonic or cable-related activity
In practice, this allows operators to increase utilisation without increasing failure rates or accelerating asset degradation.
Real-world deployments demonstrate this clearly:
- Faults have been identified within days of installation, delivering ROI within the first week
- Fault location has been narrowed and confirmed within hours, enabling targeted repair
- Utilities have achieved ~£6k+ savings per incident, alongside ~30+ staff hours saved through reduced fault finding and repeat visits
These are not marginal gains; they represent a step-change in operational efficiency and cost control.
4. Supporting Faster, Data‑Led Planning
For planners and engineers, PRESense reduces reliance on worst-case assumptions by providing:
- Feeder-level health scoring and risk ranking
- Real-world performance data to validate network models
- Evidence to prioritise investment where it is genuinely needed
This enables a move away from blanket reinforcement strategies toward targeted, high-impact investment.
From Blind Spot to Managed Asset
As utilities navigate electrification, decentralisation, and net zero commitments, LV networks can no longer be treated as an unknown.
The networks that succeed will not simply build more; they will use what they already have more intelligently.
PRESense transforms LV networks from a constraint into a controllable, optimised system:
- Releasing capacity safely and confidently
- Reducing cost without compromising reliability
- Enabling faster connections at scale
- Supporting better, evidence-based investment decisions
Ultimately, it shifts LV from a planning risk to a commercial lever.
Because the real opportunity is not just visibility, it’s the ability to act on it with confidence, and convert it into measurable network and business outcomes.
