£1 million funding secured for North West net zero projects

Stockport-based power grid operator, Electricity North West, has secured a further £1 million funding for two projects to advance energy efficiency and the transition to net zero in the region.

Engineers from the North West’s power network operator will use the award from Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund to carry out a six-month project where they will prepare and test the solutions developed. In the event of successful testing, Electricity North West will be able to apply for additional funding for up to five years to deploy its Net Zero Terrace and RetroMeter projects.

Net Zero Terrace will demonstrate how to decarbonise an entire terraced street using a smart local energy system, while RetroMeter will examine the energy and cost savings benefits of retrofit energy efficiency measures in a residential building, such as fitting loft insulation and draft proofing. The

Victoria Turnham, Electricity North West’s head of network innovation, said:

“We’re delighted Ofgem has recognised further potential in two of our projects and awarded the business significant funding to help develop them even further.  

“We operate one of the most digital electricity networks in the world and across the North West, we’re starting to see an increased uptake as more people are using technologies such as heat pumps and electric vehicles. 

“Both of the projects will provide significant benefits to our customers and we’re all looking forward to the next six months and the results we can produce.” 

Earlier this year, Electricity North West was initially awarded £427,000 to explore projects which included Net Zero Terrace and RetroMeter. Now, a further £494,502 has been awarded to Net Zero Terrace and £483,934 for RetroMeter.  

Both projects have been funded by energy network users and consumers through the Strategic Innovation Fund, a programme from the UK’s independent energy regulator Ofgem managed in partnership with Innovate UK.