Energy Infrastructure Specialist · Grid Connections Expert

Oluwatosin Bubare Ayoko Senior Policy Advisor · Grid Connections Expert

Over a decade advancing electricity grid systems — from Nigeria's distribution networks to UK national energy policy. Specialist in accelerating strategic grid connections, reducing technical losses, and enabling infrastructure that powers economic growth.

10+ Years Grid Experience
28% ATC&C Loss Reduction

Highlights & Recognition

🏆
2025 Bold Award — DESNZ Awarded by Secretary of State for Energy, Rt Hon Ed Miliband, for transformative contributions to the Connections Accelerator Service
⚡
Connections Accelerator Service (CAS) Co-designed UK government initiative unlocking over £35 billion in strategic infrastructure investment across the GB energy sector
📊
Project Network Comb Led geospatial network mapping that reduced aggregate losses from 76% to 48% in coverage area, Nigeria

Professional Summary

Powering Infrastructure.
Driving Policy. Enabling Growth.

Oluwatosin Bubare Ayoko is an electricity grid connections professional with over a decade of experience across Nigeria and the United Kingdom. His career spans hands-on field operations in electricity distribution, revenue protection, and feeder management — through to high-level national policy development at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

He is best known for his instrumental role in creating the Connections Accelerator Service (CAS) — a landmark UK government initiative that has streamlined grid access for strategically important developments such as data centres, EV infrastructure, and industrial zones, unlocking over £35 billion in infrastructure investment.

His academic research at the University of South Wales explored underground hydrogen energy storage as a solution to wind power curtailment in Scotland — combining MATLAB simulation with real-world grid data to demonstrate commercial and technical viability.

Current Role

Senior Policy Advisor

Strategic Demand Connections

UK Dept. for Energy Security & Net Zero

Education

MSc Renewable Energy & Sustainable Technology

University of South Wales, UK — 2024

BEng Mechanical Engineering

Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria — 2011

Professional Experience

November 2024 – Present

Senior Policy Advisor — Strategic Demand Connections

UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

  • Co-designed and implemented policy reforms to accelerate electrification across transport, heating, and industrial sectors — driving regulatory alignment and market readiness
  • Played a key role in the design & development of the Connections Accelerator Service (CAS), securing over £35 billion in strategic investment across the GB energy sector
  • Led the design and delivery of the CAS Pathway Framework, aligning customer pathways with Business-as-Usual processes to create clearer, more predictable connection journeys
  • Coordinated with NESO, DNOs, Transmission Operators, Ofgem, and cross-government departments to speed up grid connections for nationally significant projects
  • Represented DESNZ at stakeholder meetings, industry conferences, and cross-government forums
🏆 2025 Bold Award — Secretary of State for Energy

September 2022 – August 2023

Regional Revenue Protection Department Manager

BEDC Electricity Plc 🇳🇬 Ondo, Nigeria

  • Managed customer-facing journeys for billing, metering, compliance, disconnections, and dispute resolution across the region
  • Led negotiations with customers to resolve complex billing issues, balancing regulatory compliance with customer fairness
  • Supervised multi-disciplinary field teams ensuring safe, consistent, and customer-appropriate service delivery
  • Implemented tracking systems to improve transparency and resolution times for field inspections and customer interactions

March 2020 – September 2022

Feeder Team Coordinator

BEDC Electricity Plc (VIPL Global Services) 🇳🇬 Akure, Nigeria

  • Coordinated end-to-end operational activities impacting customer supply continuity and service reliability
  • Analysed feeder performance and customer impact data to identify service issues and improvement opportunities
  • Conducted energy audits on high-loss feeders to plug revenue leakage and improve collection efficiency
  • Introduced data-driven performance tracking to improve operational efficiency and accountability across the business unit

October 2014 – February 2020

New Economy Officer

BEDC Electricity Plc (VIPL Global Services) 🇳🇬 Ondo, Nigeria

  • Spearheaded Project Network Comb — a geospatial mapping initiative using OSM Tracker, Google Maps, and JOSM OpenStreetMap to identify loss hotspots, resulting in ATC&C losses dropping from 76% to 48%
  • Led standardised pole-mounted metering installations to reduce energy theft, achieving an unprecedented service unit collection of ₦105 million (up from ₦35 million)
  • Conducted customer enumeration and network mapping to improve service visibility and planning accuracy
  • Delivered end-to-end processes for connections, billing, disconnections, and reconnections with full regulatory compliance
⭐ Top-performing service unit milestone

April 2013 – September 2014

Aviation Sales Officer

Cleanserve Integrated Energy Solutions Limited 🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria

  • Managed discharge and loading processes of jet fuel from Tank Farm, overseeing daily inventory for 25+ aircraft
  • Conducted quality control tests on products and ensured ICAO-compliant operations on the ramp
  • Streamlined daily reconciliation of sales covering product receipt and delivery

Academic & Research Work

Research & Publications

MSc Dissertation · University of South Wales · 2024

Mitigating Wind Power Curtailment in Scotland through Underground Hydrogen Energy Storage

Wind power curtailment represents a significant inefficiency in the UK's renewable energy infrastructure — particularly in Scotland, where wind generation frequently exceeds grid demand or capacity. This dissertation proposed a hydrogen-based energy storage model as a strategic solution to this systemic waste.

The research employed a mixed-method approach: a comprehensive literature review on wind power and green hydrogen production, followed by a quantitative simulation using MATLAB™ to model hydrogen integration into the grid across four scenarios. A techno-economic assessment evaluated the model's feasibility using Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH), Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), and Capacity Factor metrics.

Results showed that surplus electricity could be converted to hydrogen via electrolysis, stored underground, and reconverted to electricity via fuel cells during peak demand — demonstrating competitive LCOH and LCOE values, and strong capacity factors for both electrolyzers and fuel cells.

📝 Currently under review — publication forthcoming

Key Methodology

MATLAB Simulation Techno-Economic Analysis LCOH / LCOE Capacity Factor Analysis Mixed Methods Scottish Grid Data (2023)

Research Impact

Advocates underground hydrogen storage as a scalable solution to curtailment, supporting a more resilient, efficient energy future for Scotland and the broader UK energy system.

Operational Initiative · Nigeria

Project Network Comb: Geospatial Loss Detection in Electricity Networks

A pioneering grid loss detection initiative that combined micro-level customer mapping with geospatial tools (OSM Tracker, JOSM, Google Earth) to identify commercial loss hotspots, unbilled connections, and misclassified meters.

A pilot test in the Alagbaka Service Unit validated the approach — reducing ATC&C losses from 76% to 48% and significantly improving billing accuracy and revenue collection.

OSM Tracker JOSM / ArcGIS Customer Enumeration Field Operations Revenue Analytics
Policy Design · UK Government

Connections Accelerator Service (CAS): Streamlining Strategic Grid Access

Co-developed a landmark UK Industrial Strategy initiative enabling high-impact demand sectors — data centres, industrial facilities, public institutions — to obtain grid connections more rapidly and predictably.

Designed the CAS Pathway Framework aligning customer journeys with BAU processes. The service has unlocked over £35 billion in infrastructure investment that might otherwise have relocated to other European countries.

Policy Design Stakeholder Engagement Service Design Regulatory Strategy DESNZ / Ofgem

Section 01

Research and Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal

Field-Based Network Audit as a Strategy for Addressing Commercial and Collection Losses in Sub-Saharan African Power Distribution: Evidence from a Nigerian Power Utility

Examines how systematic, field-based network auditing can be deployed to tackle commercial and collection losses across sub-Saharan African power distribution networks, drawing on evidence from a Nigerian power utility.

View Publication (DOI) →
Peer-Reviewed Journal

Beyond Commercial Disputes: Regulatory Stopgap Powers for Nigeria's Critical Electricity Infrastructure

Explores the case for regulatory stopgap powers to safeguard Nigeria's critical electricity infrastructure, moving the conversation beyond purely commercial disputes toward resilience and continuity of supply.

View Publication (DOI) →

Section 02

Other Research Articles

Research Article

Rewiring Nigeria's Energy Future: Blockchain and the Possibility of Peer-to-Peer Electricity Trading

Investigates how blockchain technology could enable peer-to-peer electricity trading in Nigeria, reshaping how power is bought, sold, and accounted for at the grid edge.

View Publication (DOI) →
Research Article

Hydrogen Energy as a Catalyst for Low-Carbon Transition in the UK

Considers the role hydrogen energy can play as a catalyst accelerating the UK's transition to a low-carbon energy system.

View Publication (DOI) →

Global Endeavour

Electricity networks are the backbone of every economy — from rapidly industrialising nations to the world's most advanced energy markets. Oluwatosin's global endeavour draws on a uniquely cross-continental career: from the high-loss distribution networks of sub-Saharan Africa to the regulatory corridors of UK national energy policy, and outward to the emerging challenges of grid systems worldwide.

His work is grounded in a simple but powerful conviction — that the systemic challenges facing electricity grids, whether in Lagos, London, or Los Angeles, share common roots: aging infrastructure, commercial and technical losses, fragmented connection processes, and the urgent pressure of rising demand. The solutions, too, can be shared: evidence-based diagnostics, rigorous metering practice, coordinated policy design, and inclusive stakeholder engagement.

Alongside his professional practice, Oluwatosin is committed to nurturing the next generation of energy professionals — volunteering with Working Options career day and renewable energy theme day programmes, bringing real-world electricity expertise into schools and youth settings to inspire young people to understand energy, engage with the electricity sector, and imagine careers that will shape the grid of tomorrow.

Foundation of Expertise

🇳🇬

Nigeria — Field Expertise & Loss Reduction

Nine years in Nigeria's electricity distribution sector — at BEDC Electricity Plc — provided deep hands-on expertise in metering integrity, energy auditing, and commercial loss prevention. Working within the framework of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Oluwatosin led field programmes that tackled energy theft, misclassified connections, and unbilled consumption across complex distribution networks. His deployment of geospatial tools for network mapping and micro-level customer enumeration drove ATC&C losses down from 76% to 48% in his coverage area — a measurable, evidence-based result. Revenue collection in his service unit rose from ₦35M to an unprecedented ₦105M, demonstrating the transformative power of rigorous metering practice and structured energy audits.

🇬🇧

United Kingdom — Policy, Strategy & National Scale

At the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Oluwatosin moved from field practitioner to national policymaker — co-designing the Connections Accelerator Service (CAS), which has unlocked over £35 billion in strategic infrastructure investment. Working alongside Ofgem, NESO, DNOs, and transmission operators, he developed pathway frameworks that reduced barriers for high-impact demand sectors including data centres, EV charging networks, and advanced manufacturing. His work demonstrated that the same principles underpinning loss reduction in Nigeria — clear diagnostics, process discipline, and stakeholder alignment — scale directly into the regulatory and commercial complexity of a G7 energy market.

🌍

Global — Transferable Principles for Any Grid

The electricity challenges of the 21st century — grid congestion, renewable integration, loss reduction, and the race to connect new demand — are not confined to any single country. Oluwatosin's dual experience across emerging and advanced energy markets equips him to diagnose grid inefficiencies, design scalable interventions, and engage meaningfully with regulators and stakeholders across diverse contexts. Whether advising on NERC-compliant metering standards, Ofgem regulatory processes, FERC orders, or the operational realities of under-resourced distribution utilities, his cross-market perspective is a distinctive and rare asset.

Strategic Delivery Approach

Phase 01

Diagnostic Assessment & Metering Audit

Drawing on energy audit expertise developed under NERC-regulated networks in Nigeria, this phase involves comprehensive surveys of grid connection landscapes — identifying aging infrastructure, high-loss operators, metering vulnerabilities, and commercial loss hotspots. Geospatial tools and customer enumeration techniques refined in the field are applied to surface inefficiencies invisible to desk-based analysis.

Phase 02

Data-Driven Loss Detection & Analysis

Simulation and geospatial mapping tools — including Python and MATLAB — are used to model loss patterns, quantify reliability risks, and assess the economic cost of connection delays and metering failures. This approach mirrors the analytical methodology that drove loss reduction at BEDC and informs the policy design work at DESNZ, adapted for the regulatory context of any target market.

Phase 03

Scalable Technical Interventions

Designing standardised connection protocols, high-voltage bypass strategies, pole-mounted metering systems to eliminate tampering, and enhanced metering communication infrastructure. Interventions are calibrated for local regulatory standards — whether NERC requirements in Nigeria, Ofgem conditions in the UK, FERC orders and NERC reliability standards in the US, or equivalent frameworks elsewhere.

Phase 04

Education, Engagement & Next Generation

Stakeholder engagement — with utilities, regulators, developers, and communities — sits alongside a firm commitment to education. Through volunteering with Working Options career day and renewable energy theme day programmes, Oluwatosin actively introduces young people to the electricity sector: how grids work, why energy matters, and how the next generation can build careers that will shape a cleaner, more reliable energy future.

Live Projects

GridConnect PreApp tool preview
Live Web Tool

GridConnect PreApp

A professional and easy-to-use web tool that helps energy developers assess their eligibility for a GB electricity grid connection before making a formal application. It maps available capacity at Grid Supply Points across Great Britain, guides users through key pre-application decisions, and generates an AI-powered assessment report — all informed by live NESO data and the TMO4+ Connections Reform framework.

Note: Reports generated are for information purposes only.

Visit Live Project →

Core Competencies

⚡

Grid Systems & Operations

  • Electricity distribution & transmission
  • Grid connection process design
  • Feeder management & analysis
  • Energy audit & loss detection
  • Metering integrity & compliance
  • ATC&C loss reduction
📋

Policy & Strategy

  • Strategic planning & policy development
  • Regulatory compliance (Ofgem, FERC, NERC)
  • Cross-government stakeholder engagement
  • Service design & transformation
  • Process design & improvement
  • Infrastructure investment facilitation
📊

Data & Analytics

  • MATLAB simulation & modelling
  • Python data analytics
  • Geospatial mapping (ArcGIS, JOSM, OSM)
  • Techno-economic analysis
  • Performance reporting & forecasting
  • Customer journey mapping
🤝

Leadership & Engagement

  • Cross-functional team leadership
  • Negotiations & relationship management
  • Project coordination & delivery
  • Workshop & conference facilitation
  • Change implementation
  • Field operations management
🔋

Renewable Energy

  • Hydrogen energy storage systems
  • Wind power curtailment analysis
  • Electrolyzer & fuel cell systems
  • Grid stability & resilience
  • LCOH / LCOE modelling
  • Energy storage economics
🛠️

Tools & Software

  • Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
  • MATLAB
  • Python
  • ArcGIS / OSM Tracker / JOSM
  • Google Earth & Maps
  • Microsoft Teams

Professional Affiliations

Memberships & Certifications

🏛️ Institution of Engineering & Technology (MIET) — 1122026962
🇳🇬 Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) — R49552
🔌 Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) — 49470
🌐 International Association of Engineers (IAENG)
⚡ IEEE UK & Ireland — 101500033
🔋 Energy Institute — Associate Member 0082540
🏗️ National Institute of Professional Engineers (NIPES)

Contact & Profile

Oluwatosin is based in Cardiff, UK, and is actively engaged in electricity grid connections, policy development, and renewable energy research. For professional enquiries, collaboration opportunities, or media requests, please reach out through any of the channels below.

Quick Profile

Location Cardiff, Wales, UK
Current Role Senior Policy Advisor, DESNZ
Specialisation Electricity Grid Connections
Education MSc Renewable Energy, Univ. of South Wales
Awards 2025 Bold Award — DESNZ