National Grid has received nearly £400,000 in funding for three innovative projects as part of efforts to drive Britain's transition to net zero emissions.
The projects, funded through Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund, focus on enhancing energy infrastructure and supporting rural decarbonisation.
One of the projects, led by National Grid Electricity Transmission (ET), aims to develop advanced monitoring systems for offshore cables in hybrid AC/DC networks.
This initiative seeks to improve network reliability and optimise the utilisation of clean energy sources. National Grid Electricity Distribution has secured funding for two projects.
The first project, named Rural Energy and Community Heat (REACH), focuses on expediting the decarbonisation of rural areas by enabling the deployment of low carbon technologies such as heat pumps and electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
The second project, Road to Power, aims to support the transition to electric equipment in the street and roadworks sector.
By assessing future energy consumption and infrastructure needs, this project aims to facilitate the adoption of electric machinery, contributing to reduced emissions in the sector.
Sean Coleman, Strategic Innovation Fund Manager at National Grid ET, said: "These projects across our networks are exciting additions to National Grid’s wide-ranging innovation portfolio and are great examples of how we’re thinking ambitiously and collaborating with partners across industry to support Britain’s net zero transition, while keeping costs down for consumers".
Laurence Hunter, Innovation Engineer for REACH at National Grid Electricity Distribution, said: "The advantage of a modular rural energy centre is it can offer communities shared low carbon heating, rapid EV charging and renewable generation in an area where otherwise they might have to wait for the network to be upgraded or where commercial markets may not serve customers".
"The modular approach has been used to charge EVs and this funding will enable us to see if we can extend this concept and provide extra functionality".
