UK regulator OFGEM has announced funding of £62.8 million for nine innovation projects as part of its competition to deliver a smarter energy network for consumers.
The funding is provided under the regulator’s Network Innovation Competition which encourages energy network companies to enhance innovation to reduce costs for consumer while helping deliver a low carbon future.
When combined with additional contributions from the companies and external funding this will see over £100 million being invested in innovation.
In total, there was £99 million of NIC funding available for the 11 projects which had applied for funding under the schemes. However, OFGEM weeded out two projects because it was not confident that they demonstrated good value to customers. Successful projects this year include:
- Developing a commercially viable facility that can process waste, convert it to gas and distribute it through the existing gas network to consumers.
- Delivering solutions to manage excessive temperatures at distribution substations, allowing better use to be made of existing assets and reducing long-term costs for consumers.
- Testing new designs of pylons that are smaller, better for the environment and can be used in rural and difficult to access areas.
- Working with Leeds City Council to test arrangements to power some of their refuse collection vehicles using gas from the network.
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy