Energy regulator Ofgem and Innovate UK have announced 53 projects that will receive up to £150,000 each from the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).

SIF is a five-year programme aimed at spearheading the shift towards a lower carbon future in line with the UK Government’s net zero objectives.

Innovate UK estimates that the submitted innovation projects will save consumers billions of pounds over the next ten to 15 years and cut millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The chosen projects explore new ideas with the potential to transform the energy system and benefit consumers in the coming years.

They aim to tackle challenges such as large-scale battery storage, improving the efficiency of green hydrogen production, and supporting a just energy transition.

Projects include using electric vehicles to restore power to the vulnerable during power cuts, decarbonising a terraced street using a smart local energy system and using wind farms to restore the grid following a blackout.

The projects have up to three months to further explore and develop their concepts and assess their potential. The judges will then award up to £500,000 to those with the greatest potential for a six-month proof of concept phase starting in the summer.

The remaining projects will compete for funding to demonstrate prototypes starting in early 2024.

Neil Kenward, Director for Strategy and Decarbonisation at Ofgem, stated that Britain is at the forefront of innovation and the collaboration with Innovate UK is empowering today’s innovators to develop and deliver the power solutions of tomorrow.

Mike Biddle, Executive Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK, said: “We’re delighted to be working closely with Ofgem and the energy sector on the Strategic Innovation Fund, and to see a new cohort of innovative projects coming through that will help drive the decarbonisation of our energy networks.”