Further information
Challenge area: supporting a just transition
Smart Heat and Intelligent Energy in Low-income Districts (SHIELD)
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £5,401,332
SHIELD is a bold new initiative aimed at making the net zero transition accessible to low-income residents of social housing and other tenures who cannot afford low carbon technologies.
Project partners:
- UK Power Networks (lead)
- Power Circle Projects
- Eastlight Community Homes
- Electricity North West
- Essex County Council
- Thermify
- UK Community Works
- UrbanChain
- Citizens Advice Essex
- Essex Community Energy
Challenge area: accelerating decarbonisation of major energy demands
Flexible railway energy hubs
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £8,256,616
The flexible railway energy hubs will demonstrate a transformative approach to accelerate the decarbonisation of the single largest electricity consumer, Network Rail.
Project partners:
- SP Energy Transmission (lead)
- Network Rail
- University of Leeds
- Ricardo AEA Limited
- GE Energy Power Conversion UK Ltd
Heatropolis
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £9,743,620
Heatropolis is developing a groundbreaking technical and commercial framework. This involves unlocking better outcomes between heat and electricity networks using data to maximise the use of electricity network capacity, so that heat networks can be decarbonised faster.
Project partners:
- UK Power Networks (lead)
- Passiv UK
- Metropolitan
- Guidehouse
Planning Regional Infrastructure in a Digital Environment (PRIDE)
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £3,733,400
PRIDE is using a digital tool to model changes to electricity, heat, gas, transport, digital and water infrastructure, to inform decisions on investing in decarbonisation.
Project partners:
- National Grid Electricity Distribution (lead)
- Advanced Infrastructure Technology Limited
- West Midlands Combined Authority
- Regen
- National Grid Electricity System Operator
Challenge area: preparing for a net zero power system
Powering Wales renewably
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £10,353,633
Powering Wales renewably involves network companies and local government collaborating to accelerate low-carbon energy in Wales, taking a whole electricity system approach.
Project partners:
- National Grid Electricity Systems Operator (lead)
- CGI
- National Grid Electricity Distribution
- National Grid Electricity Transmission
- SP Energy
- Cenin Renewables
- Wales and West Utilities
- National Gas Transmission
- Welsh Government
SIF blade black start demonstrator from offshore wind
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £ 4,850,905
SIF blade black start demonstrator from offshore wind is investigating how new technology can enable wind farms to restore the grid following a blackout, instead of fossil fuel generators.
Project partners:
- SP Energy Transmission (Lead)
- Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Transmission
- National HVDC Centre
- University of Strathclyde
- The Northern Energy Initiative (TNEI)
- Carbon Trust
Challenge area: improving energy system resilience and robustness
CReDo+ Climate Resilience Demonstrator (extension to new climate risks)
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £9,806,929
CReDo is developing tools to help predict likely risks to energy networks from extreme weather events.
Project partners:
- UK Power Networks (lead)
- Connected Places Catapult
- Computational Modelling Cambridge
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
- Cadent Gas
- National Gas
- SP Manweb
- National Grid Electricity Systems Operator
- University of Edinburgh
D-suite
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £ 8,065, 746
D-suite is exploring how power electronics devices can help monitor and manage low-voltage distribution networks, in the face of growing demand for renewable electricity.
Project partners:
- SP Energy (lead)
- Newcastle University
- Integrated Energy
- Cardiff University
- UK Power Networks
Multi resilience
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £6,255,384
Multi resilience is working on coordinated solutions for cost effective resilient services that maintain customer supply during unplanned grid outages, particularly in rural locations that have a heightened risk of outage.
Project partners:
- Northern Powergrid (lead)
- Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution
- Smarter Grid Solutions
- TNEI
NextGen electrolysis: wastewater to green hydrogen
Lead network type: gas
Funding award: £5,866,292
NextGen electrolysis aims to reduce the cost of producing hydrogen, by using wastewater rather than high-purity water for the electrolysis process.
Project partners:
- Wales and West Utilities (lead)
- HydroStar Europe
- National Grid Electricity Distribution
- Welsh Water
- Yeo Valley
Phased switch system
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £3,123,350
Phased switch system is reducing the load on our energy system to improve capacity, lower carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the likelihood of customer voltage issues preventing participation in flexibility services.
The project is also working on further developing an existing prototype to market readiness.
Project partners:
- National Grid Electricity Distribution (lead)
- Low Carbon Electric
- Power Networks Demonstration Centre
- UK Power Networks
- Nortech
SF6 whole life strategy
Lead network type: electricity
Funding award: £8,500,724
The SF6 whole life strategy project is exploring ways to end the use of sulphur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas in electrical systems.
Project partners:
- National Grid Electricity Transmission (lead)
- DNV
- The University of Manchester
- Scottish Hydro Electrical Transmission
- SP Transmission
- DILO
- WIKA
Ofgem
Ofgem is Britain’s independent energy regulator. Its role is to protect consumers now and in the future by working to deliver a greener, fairer energy system.
It does this by:
- working with government, industry, and consumer groups to deliver a net zero economy at the lowest cost to consumers
- stamping out sharp and bad practice, ensuring fair treatment for all consumers, especially the vulnerable
- enabling competition and innovation, which drives down prices and results in new products and services for consumers
