Ofgem funding for 10 network innovation projects

Ofgem has announced funding of nearly £60mn for 10 innovation projects as part of its ground-breaking innovation competitions for the network companies that transport energy around Britain. The funding is provided under Ofgem’s three innovation competitions that aim to help make the energy networks smarter, accelerate the development of a low carbon energy sector and deliver savings to consumers.

 

Successful projects this year include developing robots to help monitor and repair gas mains and improving engagement with vulnerable consumers to see how they can benefit from energy efficiency measures.

 

In total, £109mn was originally available for the 16 projects which had applied for funding. However, Ofgem could not be confident that all projects were able to clearly demonstrate they would provide good value to customers at this stage, resulting in six missing out on funding this year.

 

Hannah Nixon, Senior Partner, Distribution said: ‘The learnings from previous year’s innovation projects are already being shared among the industry and projects are showing real progress. I am sure that this year’s projects will continue to provide crucial learning and enable real savings to be delivered for existing and future consumers.’