Call for Ideas: Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund (Round 3) – UK

Ideas which advance through this process and develop into a project proposal led by an Energy Network, may be offered the opportunity to seek funding from the Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). The fund aims to deliver net zero at the lowest cost to consumers and support innovative businesses to grow and scale.

SIF funded projects must aim to reduce costs for consumers and carbon emissions, while improving access to revenues and markets. This will also incentivise the creation of new products, processes and services, linking into the themes for each challenge.

The vision of the SIF is to:

• support Ofgem in facilitating the UK’s transition to net zero, at lowest cost to the consumer
• position the UK as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of energy

Challenges and Themes

• Challenge 1: Whole system network planning and utilisation to facilitate faster and cheaper network transformation, and asset rollout
  • Themes:
    • Digital simulation and advanced modelling techniques to facilitate whole system network planning and development
    • Leveraging data, digital tools, and novel commercial arrangements to maximise existing network capacity
    • Reducing network connection times through use of demand and supply side flexibility
    • Supporting consumers to make cost effective decarbonisation choices co-ordinated with wider local area or regional plans
• Challenge 2: Novel technical and market approaches to deliver an equitable and secure net zero power system
  • Themes:
    • Novel market and technical approaches to cost effectively minimise renewable energy curtailment
    • Leveraging disruptive computing technologies for improving system visibility, performance, and cyber-security
    • Effectively managing peak demand and stability through increased flexibility including over longer time periods (multi-day and seasonal)
    • Enabling disadvantaged consumer segments to participate in flexibility markets and benefit from novel low carbon technologies, to make more cost-effective choices for low carbon technologies
• Challenge 3: Unlocking energy system flexibility to accelerate electrification of heat
  • Themes:
    • Improving local heat supply and demand analysis and coordination to support energy network planning
    • Improving the value and capture of system benefits from heat flexibility
    • Effectively managing peak demand and stability through increased flexibility including over longer periods (multi-day and seasonal)
    • Equitable approaches to reinforcement costs driven by heat electrification including via improving visibility of constraints
• Challenge 4: Enabling Power-to-gas (P2G) to provide system flexibility and energy network optimisation
  • Themes:
    • Optimising electrolyser deployment and operation to unlock whole system value
    • Commercial and technical innovation to secure system benefits from hydrogen storage deployments.

Funding Information

• A total of up to £450 million exclusive of VAT is allocated to the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) until 2026.

Phases

• The future funded opportunities for SIF Round 3 have different phases:
  • Discovery Phase: projects must last up to three months and have a total requested funding of no more than £150,000, exclusive of VAT
  • Alpha Phase: projects must last up to six months and have a total requested funding of no more than £500,000, exclusive of VAT
  • Beta Phase: projects must last up to five years and have a total requested funding of no more than £10 million, exclusive of VAT, total costs and funding requests of more than this may be considered on a case by case basis
• A minimum of 10% compulsory contribution is also expected at each stage.

Eligibility Criteria

• Your submitted proposal must:
  • intend to carry out its project work in Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales)
  • intend to exploit the results from or in Great Britain
  • outline network customer benefits
  • include a unique selling proposition
  • detail the types of Networks you wish to be involved with
  • highlight which challenge and theme your idea addresses
  • Any applications that are viewed as involving Russian or Belarusian entities, goods or services, which includes parent companies, may be at risk of funding approval and additional delays. Where potential concerns are identified the lead energy network applicants will need to work with the relevant Government bodies to ensure the ongoing protection of critical national infrastructure.
  • This Call for Ideas is open to sole innovators and to organisations of all types and sizes. This includes UK registered businesses of any size, research organisations, and research and technology organisations.
  • To secure future funding from SIF, you will be required to partner with an Energy Network who will lead an application into one of the SIF challenge competitions.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.