UK Power Networks (UKPN) has secured funding for four projects which, it says, will help tackle some of the energy sector’s “most urgent challenges”.
Early-stage support from Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund will help UKPN progress Hot Chips which is a project striving to explore how waste heat from data centres can be repurposed to support low carbon, flexible heating, as well as the SHARED (Smart Hydrogen and Resilience Energy Delivery) project, which will investigate using low cost hydrogen production and storage to improve energy resilience in rural communities.
The other projects are Conductor, which is looking into how under-used electricity substations could provide power to electric trains, reducing the need for unnecessary network upgrades, and Super DuPPR (Dual Purpose Power Reserves) which will see how back-up power that is stored by operators such as BT could be safely shared with the electricity grid, without destabilising the system.
Luca Grella, UKPN’s Head of Innovation, said: “These projects will build on our existing efforts to enable the transition to a low-carbon, more flexible energy system. We’re excited to move forward with these initiatives, knowing they will not only support our nationwide commitment to Net Zero but also deliver practical, scalable solutions that benefit both our customers and the wider energy network.”
