£500,000 innovation funding awarded to Stockport electricity network operator

Stockport-based electricity network operator, Electricity North West, has secured £500,000 in innovation funding to support a project to reduce the impact of air conditioning use on electricity demand.

The ‘CoolDown’ project has received the funding from the Strategic Innovation Fund, an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK, and will explore how how homes and businesses can use air conditioning systems flexibly to help balance electricity demand throughout the day.

Neil McClymont, head of innovation at Electricity North West, explained:

“Due to the effects of climate change, we’re seeing an increase in the use of air conditioning in homes and offices which could add additional strain to the electricity grid at peak times.

“Rather than just build a bigger network, which would be disruptive and expensive for bill payers, this project will help us understand and manage the impact in the most efficient way, managing extra demand through innovative commercial agreements, which could also save customers money.”

Electricity North West will deliver the project in conjunction with Guidehouse Europe, UCL Consultants, Impact Research, Oaktree Power and National Grid Electricity Distribution. Assessors from the Strategic Innovation Fund said the project “has a clear potential to deliver benefits to consumers as it could incentivise flexibility around cooling which offers financial benefits to consumers and would reduce the need for network investment costs at the same time.”

The funding award for the project follows previous innovation projects, CLASS and Smart Street, which could save customers more than a billion pounds from energy bills if rolled out nationally.

The Strategic Innovation Fund supports network innovation that will contribute to achieving net zero rapidly and at lowest cost and deliver real net benefits to network companies, energy users and consumers. It aims to work with other public funders of innovation so that activities appropriately funded by energy users and consumers are co-ordinated with activities funded by the Government.