Northern Powergrid awarded over £3m to advance groundbreaking new innovations

Northern Powergrid has secured £3.7m from the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK, for its Artificial Forecasting and GeoGrid innovation projects. 

This multi-million-pound funding will propel the projects into the next stage of development, marking a significant step in the UK’s journey to decarbonisation. 

Responsible for powering eight million customers across the North East, Yorkshire, and northern Lincolnshire, Northern Powergrid is committed to innovating for the benefit of the customers and communities it serves. 

The Artificial Forecasting project has been developed by Northern Powergrid alongside partners Faculty Science, Oak Tree Power and ev.energy.  

It will implement artificial intelligence methods to improve load forecasting, which is crucial to anticipating how much electricity is needed at certain times.  

Steve Newall, Innovation Manager at Northern Powergrid said:  

"More accurate demand estimations will make flexible energy use more feasible, expand electrical capacity and reduce the cost of decarbonisation.  

“We are moving to the ‘Demonstrate and Deploy’ stage of innovation for this project, so the abundant benefits it will bring are becoming more tangible every day.” 

The groundbreaking GeoGrid project is testing a new way to store renewable energy and convert it into heat.  

This method, called Geothermal Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES), saves surplus renewable electricity when it is not needed and uses it when demand is high.  

This helps keep the electricity grid stable, lowers energy costs, and makes the system more reliable. 

The University of Leeds is the trial site for this project and Northern Powergrid is also working with LPC Delta, Star Refrigeration, Leeds City Council and EON to bring it to fruition. 

“These schemes offer considerable advantages for the sector and our customers,” said Bart de Leeuw, Head of Innovation at Northern Powergrid.  

“Innovation at Northern Powergrid is at the forefront of how we deliver on our role as a critical enabler of regional decarbonisation.  

“I’m confident that this SIF funding and the further development of these initiatives will ensure we use our energy more effectively and sustainably, which of course is key to unlocking net zero emissions.”