Ofgem announces winners of £37 million innovation fund

Winners of the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) announced

Recipients of the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK, have been announced, with projects allocated a share of £37 million ($50.5 million). In this fourth cycle of the programme, a total of 25 projects have been successful in securing funding. The programme supports innovative solutions that accelerate decarbonisation and enable the efficient integration of renewable energy into the UK’s energy network.

The SIF framework guides innovation through three competitive phases, these are Discovery, Alpha, and Beta- moving projects from early‑stage feasibility through to full solution development and demonstration. This year the funding has been awarded to five beta projects (receiving a total £31.6 million) seven alpha projects (£3.3 million) and thirteen discovery projects (£1.8 million).

Jodie Giles, Deputy Director of Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund at Innovate UK, has said:

“This significant investment in energy network innovation will help us deliver a world-leading energy system that underpins a better future. The projects we fund today will deliver a cleaner, more affordable energy system that critically enables us to address climate change.”

She adds: “Many of the projects we fund include small and medium enterprises (SMEs) whose growth supports the UK economy. These collaborations with large network companies will deliver jobs and help the massive societal shifts in how we use and generate energy for our homes, businesses, industry, and transport. Ultimately, it’s about our future, and putting the people who use and pay for our energy system right at the centre. Customers are at the forefront of our funding decisions, and all SIF projects must benefit energy bill payers long term.”[i]

Beta projects

The large-scale demonstration projects which secured Beta funding are:

REVISE: Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) Revisiting and Evaluating Environmental Inputs on Line Ratings (REVISE) aims to deliver a more accurate, future‑ready approach for calculating overhead line ratings. The project will use high‑resolution weather data and advanced system‑modelling techniques to increase network capacity, reduce operating costs that can be passed back to consumers, and support smarter investment[ii].

SNUG: The Smarter Network UpGrades (SNUG) project, is looking at how energy efficiency retrofits represent an opportunity for disadvantaged households to participate in the energy transition. Led by UK Power Networks, SNUG will develop novel commercial models and coordinated market approaches to enable social landlords to participate in flexibility markets through bespoke contractual frameworks.

Nature4Networks: Led by SSEN, Nature4Networks is pioneering real-world demonstrators that prove nature-based solutions can meet engineering needs while delivering climate resilience, biodiversity gains, and community benefits.

Pathways to 2050: Another SSEN-led innovation project, Pathways to 2050, is creating a new, consumer-centric approach to planning and delivering low-voltage network upgrades.

Wayl-Ease: UK Power Network’s project will create a digital platform that simplifies wayleave agreements (temporary access contracts between landowners and utility companies) using artificial intelligence (AI) and geospatial mapping. By facilitating improved planning, faster network transformation and more informed customers, Wayl-Ease will support timely infrastructure expansion aligned with local priorities.

Alpha projects

The seven alpha projects are:

VOLT: Working to develop and validate how multi-vector microgrids can help industrial and commercial sites decarbonise, improve resilience, and provide flexibility.

SHARED: Smart Hydrogen and Resilient Energy Decarbonisation (SHARED) is exploring the potential of low-cost hydrogen production and storage as a solution to improve the resilience of worst served customer communities.

ODIN: Optimisation and Diagnostics for Innovative Networks (ODIN) is capturing and analysing live operational data to detect early signs of wear, thermal imbalance, and performance loss. It uses predictive, data-driven maintenance to minimise outages, extend asset life, and enhance overall network reliability.

Future Fleet: Developing a geospatially informed framework that provides networks and logistics operators with actionable strategies for scalable, affordable, and grid-friendly freight electrification.

HVDC Wind Connect: Another project led by SSEN, it integrates offshore wind into the energy system by developing and demonstrating novel ‘rigid’ and ‘hybrid’ meshed HVDC systems.

Power Wheels: Looking at harnessing over 10 GW of flexibility from Motability’s growing electric vehicle fleet. Exploring smart charging and bidirectional charging to create a virtual power plant and safeguard households reliant on medical equipment during outages.

Hydrogen-Enhanced Biomethane for Energy System Resilience: Using biomethanisation, injecting hydrogen to convert additional CO2 within digesters, to boost biomethane output dynamically and support network balancing[iii].