Energy Networks Innovation Strategy 2022

Regen was commissioned by ENA to revise and refresh the strategy to ensure that network innovation continues to be coordinated, focused on the key priorities for the energy system and delivers benefits to energy consumers.

The innovation landscape has evolved since the network innovation strategies were last published in 2020 and so have the priorities and views of energy network stakeholders. With the input and feedback of a diverse group of stakeholders, we’ve ensured that the underlying principles, themes and focus areas that guide network innovation continue to tackle our biggest challenges for 2022 and beyond. Stakeholder feedback has shaped every section of this strategy and we thank all those who were involved throughout.

The aim of the strategy is to enable stakeholders to understand the key priorities for network innovation and how to get involved. You’ll find this information, and lots more, in the strategy and you can also explore these concepts by navigating the interactive infographics below.

• The first infographic gives you an overview of the network innovation themes and principles. When you click on a segment, a pop-up will appear summarising key information. You can also explore the innovation focus areas defined in the strategy and relevant network project case studies.

• The second infographic is a high-level guide that maps out the key stages involved in delivering an innovation project from an initial idea to successful implementation and benefits realisation. By clicking on each step of the process, a pop-up will appear highlighting where this strategy can help and signposting to further information and relevant links.

You can read the full 2022 Energy Networks Innovation Strategy by clicking the image below.

Stakeholder engagement:

The development of the 2022 Energy Networks Innovation Strategy was underpinned by an extensive stakeholder engagement process, and we thank everyone who gave their time and thoughts to help shape the future of network innovation.

We first invited stakeholder views with the launch of an online consultation and associated webinar where we asked for feedback on the proposed updates to the principles and themes governing network innovation for 2022. We heard from 138 of you and at least 80% of you agreed with our proposed revisions to each of the innovation themes. The online consultation summary report can be read here.

View the slides from the webinar here. The recording from the webinar can be watched below.

We then ran two workshops in early 2022, attended by 199 stakeholders, to explore in detail the key focus areas sitting underneath the themes. These focus areas are intended to help innovators better understand how they can collaborate on network innovation projects by clearly laying out the priorities within each theme. The workshop summary report can be read here.

Within the strategy, we’ve included a high-level guide which maps out the key stages involved in delivering an innovation project from start to finish. We hope this will help the innovation community better understand how to collaborate with the networks to solve some of the biggest challenges faced by the industry.

• To find out more about this project, please contact Christine Chapter.
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Regen was delighted to attend the Energy Innovation Summit on 28-29 September 2022, having worked on the content for the event. Previously known as the Energy Networks Innovation Conference (ENIC), this year’s event has been rebranded to The Summit as part of a new collaboration with BEIS, Innovate UK, Ofgem and Regen, opening the UK’s leading energy innovation event up to wider industry as well as attracting new domestic and international delegates. You can watch the livestreamed sessions here.