National Grid PLC has been allotted nearly GBP 400,000 ($503,300) in the latest round of the United Kingdom utility regulator’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), with rural grid decarbonization among the awarded projects.
“Three projects across National Grid’s electricity transmission and distribution networks have secured almost £400,000 to fund feasibility studies as part of the SIF’s discovery phase, which backs the most promising innovations that could accelerate the net zero transition”, National Grid said in a news release.
The Rural Energy and Community Heat (REACH) project, allocated GBP 117,000 ($147,200), will study the priorities of community energy groups to develop practical solutions improving access to low-carbon technologies.
“The REACH team will work with innovative suppliers to develop shipping container-sized rural energy centers”, the press release stated. “These prefabricated units will contain standardized equipment that can be easily sited within communities to enable the connection of heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers and renewable generation”.
Laurence Hunter, National Grid innovation engineer for REACH, said in a statement, “The advantage of a modular rural energy center 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 electric vehicles and this funding will enable us to see if we can extend this concept and provide extra functionality”, Hunter explained.
Another project, HIRE, has been awarded GBP 135,000 ($169,900) to research new solutions to monitor the health of cables in future alternating current-direct current hybrid networks to avoid unplanned outages.
“The project could come up with a new system to overcome current monitoring limitations associated with longer HVDC [high-voltage direct current] cable routes, boosting network reliability and ensuring maximum use of clean energy as grids become more and more interconnected using HVDC technology”, National Grid said.
“National Grid ET [Electricity Transmission] will also be collaborating on several other partner-led SIF-funded initiatives, notably with the electricity system operator (ESO) on a £150,000 [$188,700] project to create a model to help better understand the impact of future energy scenarios on the system”.
The third project, Road to Power, has bagged over GBP140,000 ($176,200) “to look at how networks can support the street and roadworks sector and the use of electric equipment like excavators and pavers”, the announcement said.
“The project will assess forecast future consumption and explore different electrification pathways and infrastructure needs. It will then create online tools to help roadworks contractors obtain temporary grid connections while helping networks forecast the impact of temporary works on their infrastructure”.
National Grid has now won GBP 4 million ($5 million) from Ofgem’s SIF since its launch 2021 and has led 14 recipient projects aimed at reducing Earth-warming emissions from the power sector. The UK has set a goal of fully decarbonizing its power sector by 2035.
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