Ofgem SIF backs solutions for Britain’s biggest energy challenges

Sixteen discovery, alpha and beta phase projects, including five Innovation Charter projects, have successfully secured a total of £16.2 million in funding.

Cycle six of the Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) includes the first projects starting to address some of the new SIF challenges: 2026 to 2033.

The projects address:

faster infrastructure delivery

consumer-led decarbonisation

green gas

system visibility

flexible charging

outage resilience

Industrial and business connection acceleration

Data-Integrated Systems for Power Transmission and Community Heat (DISPATCH), will work towards addressing challenge one: industrial and business connection acceleration.

Through using network capacity more efficiently, DISPATCH will investigate how data centres can be sited to provide low-temperature waste heat.

Sharing flexibility service income with heat networks aligns with the challenge one ambition for energisation of major strategic sites within six months by 2033.

Faster build and maintenance

Routing and Planning through Interoperable Data (RAPID) is supporting challenge two: faster build and maintenance.

Development of a shared transmission data interoperability framework will streamline routing, planning and consent.

The resulting reduction in duplication, delays and costs supports the challenge two ambition of delivering infrastructure 50% faster and 20% cheaper by 2035.

Instant use domestic energy devices

By creating a simpler, plug-and-play electric vehicle (EV) charging experience beyond the home, Roaming Meter Point Administration Numbers (MPANs) supports challenge three: instant use domestic energy devices.

By linking household electricity accounts securely to public chargers, Roaming MPANs will give drivers access to their home account, smart tariffs and rates.

This will support affordable and equitable charging in line with instant plug and play connections of domestic energy devices by 2032.

Eliminating energy outages

Security of Supply reflecting distributed generation (SOS Racer), will assess how distributed demand-side flexibility can:

strengthen electricity security of supply

inform future resilience, planning and market frameworks

By supporting flexible network operation and reducing the likelihood and impact of outages, SOS Racer will contribute to challenge four: eliminating energy outages.

Challenge four ambition aims to achieve near-zero interruptions through autonomous reconfiguration and islanding by 2038.

Innovation Delivery Groups

Each challenge will be supported by an Innovation Delivery Group (IDG), made up of representatives from energy networks, decision-makers and subject-matter experts from across the sector and beyond.

IDGs are responsible for delivery of the challenge outcomes, they will oversee and coordinate challenge specific portfolios of SIF projects.

Innovation Charters

In cycle six, each IDG has received discovery phase funding to develop their own innovation charter.

These challenge specific innovation charters will be published in January 2027 to provide a strategic roadmap that will:

map current innovation activity

identify gaps and barriers

set out potential pathways to meet the innovation challenges

plan how work should be prioritised and sequenced

address how progress will be tracked through refined key performance indicators and outcome measures

Strategic, long-term focus

Through these innovation charters, the IDGs will approach innovation as a coordinated programme rather than a collection of separate projects.

This strategic, long-term focus will turn ideas into action and delivery of measurable benefits for consumers, our climate and Britain’s wider economy.

More detail on all the projects funded in cycle six, including lead and partner organisations and funding amounts, are in further information below.

For further information see:

Innovate UK’s Ofgem: SIF newsletter for subscribers

SIF on the Ofgem website

Backing ambitious, practical ideas

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

This £16.2 million investment backs ambitious, practical ideas that will tackle the energy systems biggest challenges – from faster build and maintenance of networks to simpler EV charging and near zero outages.

The SIF is leading the way on moving from bright ideas to real-world impact. We identify and target the biggest system challenges, involve the right people, collaborate early, and provide dedicated support to move proven innovations into operational deployment.

In this round we aren’t just funding projects, but a new operating model that is changing the culture of energy network innovation.

Innovation Delivery Groups will develop the Innovation Charters funded in this cycle to provide a clear pathway for future SIF applications.

Facilitating greater collaboration and knowledge sharing for each challenge, and crucially, maintaining focus on delivery of impact.

Shared goals, clearer pathways

Marzia Zafar, Deputy Director of Digitalisation and Innovation at Ofgem said:

Through the Strategic Innovation Fund, Ofgem is helping the energy sector tackle the biggest challenges facing Britain’s energy system, from connecting major new industrial sites more quickly and speeding up network delivery, to improving resilience and making it easier for consumers to benefit from new technologies.

The projects funded in this cycle are the first to be delivered against our new long-term Innovation Challenges, helping focus innovation on the outcomes that matter most for consumers, industry and the wider economy.

This cycle also marks the start of a more coordinated approach to innovation through the new Innovation Delivery Groups and Innovation Charters.

By bringing networks, innovators and experts together around shared goals, we’re creating a clearer pathway from ideas to real-world deployment, helping deliver a cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy system while supporting economic growth across Great Britain.

Ofgem SIF backs solutions for Britain’s biggest energy challenges – UKRI