A total of eight research and development projects led by the National Grid have collectively been awarded £896,000 from Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) programme.
Within this funding, £396,000 will be allocated to National Grid Electricity Transmissions (NGET) to accelerate the development of a net zero electricity network.
NGET project aims include researching technology to increase power flow capability on existing overhead lines and the development of a long-term strategy to rid the network of electrical insulating gas sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
All five of the projects submitted by the National Grid Electricity Distribution have collectively been provided a total of £500,000. The five projects will explore:
- how thermal energy efficiency impacts network loads
- the use of electric vehicles to restore power supplies to vulnerable customers during a power cut
- how digital solutions can support regional network planning
- flexibility across different utilities
- the role digital technologies could have in developing a localised smart energy system
“It’s great to see National Grid’s networks leading the way with the sort of ambitious thinking needed to tackle some of the biggest challenges in energy. This funding will help drive progress on a raft of innovative projects, from new technologies to boost network capacity, to how we reduce our dependency on the greenhouse gas SF6,” said Nicola Todd, head of strategy and innovation at National Grid Electricity Transmission.
“Work on these initiatives is helping to shape the future of Britain’s energy networks and accelerating the transition to net zero, at lowest cost to consumers.”
Jenny Woodruff, innovation team manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution added: “We are thrilled that all our projects applications were approved as this is our first experience of SIF.
“We are eager to crack on with the projects that are very diverse and between them cover a wide range of ways that we can help reach net zero. We are also excited to be working with new project partners which often brings new insights.
“The discovery phase will allow us to test key assumptions and carry out the early work necessary to firm up our plans for the alpha and beta SIF phases where we can develop the initial ideas into prototypes and full-scale trials.”
15 projects submitted by UK Power Networks have also been awarded SIF-funding.
