Key Features
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £30 million exclusive of VAT, for collaborative Discovery Phase Projects that meet the Round 5 challenges. This funding is from the Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund.
Programme: Innovate UK
Award: Share of up to £30 million
Opens: 26th May 2025
Closes: 25th Jun 2025
This competition is delivered by Innovate UK in partnership with the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem). It is funded by the Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund, which aims to deliver net zero at lowest cost to consumers and support innovative businesses to grow and scale.
This competition is delivered by Innovate UK in partnership with the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem). It is funded by the Ofgem Strategic Innovation Fund, which aims to deliver net zero at lowest cost to consumers and support innovative businesses to grow and scale.
Each Round 5 Innovation Challenge as listed in the Strategic Innovation Fund – Round 5 Innovation Challenge document has different aims.
You must select which challenge your Project is working on.
Challenge 1: Advanced Energy Transmission and Networks
Challenge 2: Dynamic Modelling
Challenge 3: High Energy Demand Point Integration
Challenge 4: Consumer Centric Grid Expansion
Challenge 5: Enhanced System Visibility and Control
Challenge 6: Green Gas
Challenge 7: Whole System Optimisation
Your Project must meet the eligibility criteria of the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), as stipulated in the SIF Governance Document.
Applicants must demonstrate that the Projects deliver a net benefit to consumers through:
Your proposal must focus on network innovation that can benefit GB energy network infrastructure, consumers, operation, and utilisation.
You must address:
At this stage a Project Direction will be issued for the Discovery Phase only. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for Alpha Phase.
The Discovery Phase of a Project will define the problem and the value in solving it. It will also facilitate a common understanding of consumers’ and network users’ needs from the innovation and identifying constraints.
The Alpha Phase will focus on preparing and testing solutions that are identified during the Discovery Phase, ahead of any large-scale demonstration of the Project in the Beta Phase.
Innovation Challenge focus themes
You must select the primary Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) Innovation Challenge focus theme that your Project is targeting.
Challenge 1: Advanced Energy Transmission and Networks:
Challenge 2: Dynamic Modelling:
Challenge 3: High Energy Demand Point Integration:
Challenge 4: Consumer-Centric Grid Expansion:
Challenge 5: Enhanced System Visibility and Control:
Challenge 6: Green Gas
Challenge 7: Whole System Optimisation
Any proposed project against the point above must also consider contributing to the key cross cutting areas:
This award has been designed to be provided on a no subsidy basis, as defined in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
This means to be eligible, the award will not give an economic advantage to one or more organisations, and you must not be acting economically as an organisation within the meaning of the act.
In limited circumstances, EU State aid rules may apply under the Windsor Framework and a ‘No Aid’ award may be given in accordance with the R&D&I Framework.
Your Project
Your Project must:
Your Project deliverables must be completed within the five month window stated. You are required to fulfil all monitoring requirements, for example, end of phase meetings and Project show and tells, further guidance will be provided.
Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day and this must be stated within your application. You must not start your project until your Project Direction has been received and approved. Your Project start date will be reflected in your Project Direction if you are successful.
You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.
Lead organisation
To lead a Discovery Phase Project, you must:
Project Partners
Each Discovery Phase Round 5 Challenge has specific Project partner requirements in addition to the lead network licensee. The eligibility requirements for the Discovery Phase Challenges are different for each Challenge theme:
Challenge 1: Advanced Energy Transmission and Networks:
Theme 1: A research organisation or industry partner with experience in power electronics for grid applications
Theme 2: A research institution or industry partner with expertise in superconducting technologies
Theme 3: A research organisation or technology provider in wireless power systems
Challenge 2: Dynamic Modelling:
Theme 1: A research institution or technology provider with expertise in real time network modelling, forecasting and optimisation
Theme 2: Organisations with capability in dynamic modelling, network control or automation for resource coordination
Challenge 3: High Energy Demand Point Integration:
Theme 1: A research institution or industry partner with expertise in energy forecasting, demand modelling, and load profiling
Theme 2: A research institution or technology provider in demand side response and grid flexibility
Theme 3: A policy expert, regulatory specialist, or network planner with experience in grid connection processes and infrastructure planning
Challenge 4: Consumer-Centric Grid Expansion:
Theme 1: Consumer representative organisation
Theme 2: Consumer representative organisation
Challenge 5: Enhanced System Visibility and Control
Theme 1: A research institution, technology provider, or grid analytics specialist with expertise in real time monitoring, AI driven diagnostics, and grid automation
Theme 2: A research institution, control room specialist, or automation solution provider with expertise in digital twins and operator decision support tools for complex environments
Challenge 6: Green Gas
Theme 1: A research institution, technology provider, or infrastructure specialist with expertise in gas blending, pressure management, and grid adaptation
Theme 2: A research institution, flexibility solutions expert, or control system developer specialising in real time forecasting, injection control, and balancing strategies
Theme 3: A research organisation or technology developer with expertise in gas compression, storage, and injection management
Challenge 7: Whole System Optimisation
Theme 1: National Energy System Operator (NESO)
Theme 2: A technology provider or Research institution specialising in cross-sector energy modelling and NESO
You are encouraged to have other Project Partners in addition to the mandatory requirements listed above. Your Project Partners can include a variety of third party innovators such as:
This list is not intended to be exhaustive.
The Project Direction will be awarded to a single legal entity only.
If successful, the Project Direction will be awarded only to the lead network (Funding Party). Project Partners must be responsible for at least one deliverable in the Discovery Phase.
Ofgem are looking for proposals that involve all the necessary stakeholders relevant to the proposed innovation. We particularly encourage Projects working with suitable SME technology developers and growth companies.
Each Project Partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a Project. Once Project Partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own Project costs in the application.
To be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must:
More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.
Non-funded partners
Your project can include non-UK partners, including partners based in the EU, who bring their own funding. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit results overseas. Their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.
Sanctions
This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.
Use of animals in research and innovation
Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.
Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.
Ofgem will not award funding if you have failed to comply with the eligibility criteria set out in Chapter 2 of the SIF Governance document.
Ofgem will not fund Projects that do not meet the requirements of the SIF Governance Document.
A total SIF funding of up to £30 million exclusive of VAT is allocated to the Discovery Phase across the seven challenges.
Matched contributions that exceed the 10% mandatory minimum contribution will be assessed as delivering greater value for money. Projects must also consider the suitability of sourcing additional private or public funding where it may be unsuitable for consumer bill payers to finance assets or other equipment and resources.
If you are unsure whether your Project or parts of your Project are eligible for funding in this competition, you must contact Ofgem by email to SIF_Ofgem@iuk.ukri.org at least five working days before the competition closes. Ofgem will decide whether to approve your request.
The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:
Ofgem reserve the right to make the final decision as to which Projects are funded.
At the end of Discovery Phase all milestones detailed in the Project Direction must be fulfilled. The successful organisation will be invited to submit an application into the Alpha phase and a further assessment will take place.
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