EVALUATION

AN INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF THE LCNF
A.2.3 International Funding (Q2.3)
Questions:
What methods of innovation funding are you aware of internationally? How
successful have overseas DNOs been in innovating, please provide examples where
possible?
A.2.3.1 International Innovation Funding
Half of the respondents mentioned Horizon 2020 as the largest innovation fund in Europe.
One respondent expanded to say the fund is nearly 80 billion Euros.
One respondent was aware of some US innovation funding – collaboration takes place
through the Electric Power Research Institute and the Department of Energy also provides
grants.
Another respondent has been involved in projects that actually utilised international
funding. They were involved in an EU funded FP7 project, DISCERN, where the aim was
to learn how to enhance the electricity network by using distributed intelligence. This
project will help validate some of the NTVV project outputs.
The Aberdeen Hydrogen Project utilised three funds – EU (FCJHU), UK Government
(Innovate UK) and funding from the Scottish Government. The final project the response
covered was NINES – which involved providing new heating systems for 230 housing
association properties – this was partly funded by a grant from the European ERDF fund.
This same respondent has found that although their experience with these funds has been
positive, in general EU funded projects tend to be developed in response to a funding call
on a specific topic which is different to the scope of the LCNF. They found the missing
aspect of these sources was a good incentive to transition innovation to business as
usual.
A.2.3.2 Success of International Innovation
One respondent that was aware of the US innovation funding had the example of NV
Energy rolling out nearly 1.4m smart meters for customers residing in Nevada, with
around half of the $280m cost being funded by a grant from the Department of Energy.
This project had a dynamic pricing trial, consumer behavioural trial and provided
operational benefits.
Another respondent has, as part of partnerships, reviewed internationally funded projects,
implementing the learning into their own innovation strategy where possible both to avoid
duplication and deliver value to their customers. They say they have provided statements
of support for academic institutions previously to support their bid for internationally
funded research when they feel it will benefit UK customers.
They are aware of international innovation projects that have brought benefits to the UK
industry, through the learning and new products.
It is of the opinion of another respondent that international DNOs have had innovation
success, and are most successful when they have specific network problems to solve.
They provide the example of the rollout and control of energy storage in the state of
California – this is being driven by the large amount of solar generation and the step
change challenges between generation and demand.
PÖYRY MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
October 2016
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