Ofgem backing for heat pump projects
24th January 2025
UK: New projects looking at applications of geothermal energy and future heat pump demand have received backing from Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund.
The fund backs projects tackling better network planning for increased demand and accelerating connections. It is part of the government’s ambition to decarbonise Britain’s energy networks
GeoGrid, a project led by Northern Powergrid, receives £432,935 to explore using geothermal long duration energy storage (LDES) to store renewable electricity as heat.
It will use the University of Leeds’ Geothermal Campus living lab to understand how long-term thermal energy storage can improve the energy system’s efficiency and sustainability.
Others collaborating on the project are LCP Delta, E.ON Next, Leeds City Council and Star Refrigeration.
The second project, EqualLCT, has received £449,687 to address how to meet the scale of demand that heat pumps and other low carbon technologies (LCTs) will place on the network.
The EqualLCT project team is led by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Distribution with partners Baringa Partners and Smart Metering Systems.
It will combine energy efficiency and flexibility products to accelerate the roll out of heat pumps. Critical to this is the management of the cost and scale of reinforcement required to reduce consumer bills in the transition to net zero.
