National Grid Innovation Projects Target Faster Data Centre Connections, AI Asset Monitoring and Renewable Energy Collaboration

National Grid Innovation Projects Target Faster Data Centre Connections, AI Asset Monitoring and Renewable Energy Collaboration

(IN BRIEF) National Grid has secured more than £1 million from Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund to advance five electricity network innovation projects across its transmission and distribution businesses. The projects address major challenges facing the UK energy system, including rising electricity demand from data centres, the need for faster grid connections, improved network planning, smarter asset monitoring, offshore infrastructure expansion and greater community participation in renewable energy development. National Grid Electricity Transmission received Discovery phase funding for Project FLARE, which will explore flexible demand arrangements for large users such as data centres, and Project PROMUPS, which will examine probabilistic modelling methods to improve capacity planning. Two Alpha phase projects also received funding: Project FoSMo, focused on shared AI models for asset monitoring, and Project AMPERES, which will test automated and robotic seagrass restoration methods linked to offshore grid expansion. National Grid Electricity Distribution secured funding for the Matchmaker project, a proposed digital tool to connect renewable developers with community energy groups. The projects support National Grid’s wider innovation programme and aim to help build a more flexible, resilient and efficient electricity network for the clean energy transition.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 10-Jun-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — National Grid has secured more than £1 million in innovation funding through Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund to progress five projects aimed at accelerating the transformation of the UK’s electricity networks.

The funding will support initiatives across National Grid’s electricity transmission and distribution businesses, covering projects that explore faster grid connections for data centres and other large electricity users, improved network planning methods, AI-enabled asset monitoring, scalable marine habitat restoration and a new digital tool to connect renewable energy developers with community energy groups.

The projects are being developed as electricity demand rises across the UK, driven by factors including the growth of data centres, wider electrification and the increasing need to connect renewable generation. National Grid said the initiatives are designed to help the network adapt more quickly and efficiently while maintaining reliability and keeping costs down for consumers.

The five projects are progressing through the Discovery and Alpha phases of the Strategic Innovation Fund programme. The Discovery phase supports early-stage feasibility work and evidence development, while the Alpha phase focuses on testing and developing promising solutions in more practical settings.

National Grid Electricity Transmission has received funding for two Discovery phase projects. Project FLARE, or Flexibility for Large Assets to Rapidly Energise, has been awarded £124,391 to examine how major electricity users, including data centres, could connect to the grid more quickly through flexible demand arrangements. The project, delivered with the Electric Power Research Institute, will assess how flexible usage could unlock additional network capacity and create a standard framework for defining and measuring flexible demand.

A second Discovery phase project, PROMUPS, or Probabilistic Methods for Uncertainty in Power Systems, has received £138,674. Delivered by National Grid Electricity Transmission with WSP and the University of Edinburgh, the project will investigate advanced probabilistic modelling techniques for network planning. It aims to improve how uncertainty in future demand and generation is reflected in planning decisions, helping support more efficient allocation of network capacity.

Two further National Grid Electricity Transmission projects have secured Alpha phase funding. Project FoSMo, or Foundation Source Model, has been awarded £355,985 to develop and test shared artificial intelligence models for asset monitoring across transmission and distribution networks. The project is being delivered in collaboration with DScience Ltd, also known as Keen AI, SP Electricity North West, UK Power Networks, SP Energy Networks and Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission. It aims to improve fault detection, reliability and operational efficiency through shared data and AI models.

Project AMPERES, or Automating Marine Plant Ecosystem Restoration for Energy Supply, has received £456,027 to trial automated and robotic approaches for restoring seagrass meadows at scale. Led by National Grid Electricity Transmission with partners including the Ocean Conservation Trust, Land and Water, Robocean and DNV, the project is intended to support environmental requirements linked to offshore electricity infrastructure expansion.

National Grid Electricity Distribution has also secured £147,000 for its Discovery phase Matchmaker project. The project will explore the creation of a digital tool that brings together renewable developers and local community energy groups. The aim is to help commercial wind, solar and battery storage projects progress more quickly and at lower cost by combining developers’ technical knowledge with community groups’ local insight, trust and potential investment.

Jenny Woodruff, NGED programme lead, said the Matchmaker project could help schemes move forward faster and more affordably by connecting developers and community energy groups through a simple digital platform. She said community groups can contribute local knowledge and trust, while developers bring technical expertise, creating conditions for more successful projects and greater community ownership.

Neil McClymont, Head of Innovation at National Grid Electricity Transmission, said innovation is essential for keeping pace with the changing demands placed on the electricity network. He said the funded projects will support faster connections for large users such as data centres, improve system planning and operations, and help build a smarter, more flexible and resilient network for the future.

The projects form part of National Grid’s wider innovation programme, which is focused on addressing the challenges of a rapidly changing energy system. These include rising demand from data centres and other sectors, the integration of renewable generation and the need to deliver new infrastructure at speed.

National Grid’s recent innovation work also includes Dynamic Line Rating, which identifies spare capacity on existing power lines to increase power flows; Emerald AI, a UK-first trial showing how AI-enabled data centres can adjust demand by up to 40% in under a minute in response to real-time grid signals without affecting performance; and the operational rollout of sees.ai autonomous drone technology for smarter overhead line inspection and maintenance.

The Strategic Innovation Fund is an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK. It is designed to support new technologies, tools and approaches that can help transform Great Britain’s energy networks in line with the clean energy transition.

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SOURCE: National Grid