Five projects led by National Grid will advance their development in electricity transmission and distribution network innovations after obtaining more than £1 million from the subsequent stage of Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) programme.

The initiatives intend to accelerate network adaptation and efficiency while protecting reliability and minimising consumer costs, as electricity demand climbs due to wider electrification and data centre expansion. The projects span the Discovery and Alpha phases of the SIF scheme, which is managed by Ofgem in partnership with Innovate UK to test and develop new technologies for Great Britain's energy networks.

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) received financing for two Discovery phase projects targeting early-stage feasibility and evidence. This features £124,391 for a project assessing how large power users like data centres can achieve quicker grid connections via flexible demand systems, alongside £138,674 for a project investigating probabilistic approaches to network planning to enhance capacity allocation and efficiency.

Two additional NGET initiatives secured Alpha phase funding for real-world testing. Project FoSMo received £355,985 to create and evaluate shared artificial intelligence models for asset monitoring. Meanwhile, Project AMPERES secured £456,027 to trial automated techniques for large-scale marine habitat restoration to assist offshore grid expansion.

National Grid Electricity Distribution also attained £147,000 in Discovery phase SIF funding for its 'Matchmaker' project, which explores a digital tool to link renewable developers with community energy groups to accelerate schemes, lower costs, and enhance community ownership.

These projects form part of a broader innovation programme at National Grid to manage evolving system challenges. Other recent initiatives include Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) to find spare capacity on power lines, the Emerald AI trial demonstrating a 40% power flexibility in AI data centres within a minute, and the integration of sees.ai's autonomous drones for overhead line inspections.

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Neil McClymont, Head of Innovation at National Grid Electricity Transmission, stated: "Innovation is essential if we are to keep pace with the changing demands on the electricity network. From supporting faster connections for large users like data centres, to improving how we plan and operate the system, these projects will help us build a smarter, more flexible and resilient network for the future."

Full list of projects and funding

National Grid Electricity Transmission

Supporting data centre growth and faster grid connections

• Project FLARE (Flexibility for Large Assets to Rapidly Energise) – £124,391

Led by National Grid Electricity Transmission in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), this project will explore how large electricity users – including data centres – could connect to the grid faster by introducing flexible demand arrangements. The project will assess how flexible usage could unlock additional capacity on the network and develop a standard framework for defining and measuring flexible demand, building on existing approaches such as EPRI’s DCFlex framework, to evaluate how this could reduce connection times while making better use of existing infrastructure.

Improving planning for a more complex, high-demand system

• Project PROMUPS (Probabilistic Methods for Uncertainty in Power Systems) – £138,674

Delivered by National Grid Electricity Transmission with WSP and the University of Edinburgh, this project will investigate new probabilistic modelling approaches to network planning. The project seeks to improve how uncertainty in demand and generation is accounted for, helping support more efficient allocation of network capacity.

Using AI to improve asset monitoring and reliability

• Project FoSMo (Foundation Source Model) – £355,985

Led by National Grid Electricity Transmission in collaboration with DScience Ltd (Keen AI), SP Electricity North West, UK Power Networks, SP Energy Networks and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, this project will develop and test shared artificial intelligence models for asset monitoring across transmission and distribution networks. The project aims to improve fault detection, reliability and operational efficiency through the use of shared data and AI models.

Scaling environmental solutions alongside offshore expansion

• Project AMPERES (Automating Marine Plant Ecosystem Restoration for Energy Supply) – £456,027

Led by National Grid Electricity Transmission with partners including the Ocean Conservation Trust, Land and Water, Robocean and DNV, this project will trial automated and robotic methods for restoring seagrass meadows, a key marine habitat at scale. The project aims to support the environmental requirements associated with offshore electricity infrastructure.

National Grid Electricity Distribution

Connecting renewable developers with local community energy groups

• Project Matchmaker - £147,000

A National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) SIF project is seeking to create a first for the UK. NGED is working in partnership with Regen and TPZ Impact to help developers of commercial wind farms, solar and battery storage find local community energy groups to support their developments. The Matchmaker project will investigate creating a digital tool to bring community energy groups (CEGs) and developers together. The idea is implement renewable projects faster and cheaper. CEGs can provide not only local knowledge to minimise planning objections, but also investment in schemes to boost community ownership of renewable assets. It is hoped the Matchmaker project, which has been awarded £147,000 in SiF funding, could lead to more efficient use of locally generated clean energy and lower bills.

NGED programme lead Jenny Woodruff said: "By bringing developers and community energy groups together through a simple digital tool, we can help schemes move forward quicker and at lower cost. Community groups bring local insight and trust, while developers bring technical expertise – and when those come together, it can lead to more successful projects and greater community ownership."