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Our response to coronavirus
Find out how we're working to keep the electricity and gas flowing reliably throughout the outbreak.
UK
Gas Transmission Innovation
We aim to continuously improve our business through both technical and commercial innovation that creates value for consumers and our other stakeholders. This will help us provide a safe, efficient, and reliable network that meets our customers’ requirements and safeguards our environment. In these pages, you can find out more about what we're doing.
Innovation Funding Mechanisms
As part of the RIIO-T1 price control, there are two funding mechanisms that facilitate innovation across the gas industry: the Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) and the Network Innovation Competition (NIC). Projects funded under these mechanisms should feature at least one of the following:
Unproven in Britain;
- Novel arrangement or application;
- Novel operational practice; or
- Novel commercial arrangement
Network Innovation Allowance (NIA)
The NIA provides an annual allowance to fund smaller scale projects. NIA funding is accessible throughout the year, providing opportunities to develop innovation programmes across the gas industry. Drivers for the NIA are:
- Research and Development – Encouraging operational and technological innovation.
- Collaboration and Dissemination – Working with external partners to solve problems and sharing new learning.
- Customers and Strategy – Focusing on solutions that deliver direct financial value to our custome
Find out more about the NIA Framework
Network Innovation Competition (NIC)
The NIC is an annual competition to fund flagship innovative projects that can deliver financial and environmental benefits for gas customers. There is a fund of £20m available each year to Gas Transmission and Distribution networks. To secure funding, projects should:
- Accelerate the development of a low-carbon energy sector
- Deliver value for money for gas customers.
- Create knowledge that can be shared across energy networks in Great Britain (GB)
- Be innovative (i.e. not business as usual) and have an unproven business case
Key Documents
NIA Annual Summaries
Find out more about our innovation activities and read our latest Innovation Annual Summary for 2018/19 published in July 2019.
Innovation Value Report
In April 2017, we published a first-of-its-kind innovation value mid-term report. Benefits realised to date include £6.9m, demonstrating a positive benefit ratio of approximately 4:1 against cost incurred across the 10 case studies featured in the report, with significant opportunity for future benefits.
Gas Network Innovation Strategy
The Gas Network Innovation Strategy sets out the challenges and the opportunities facing the gas transmission and distribution networks in continuing to provide benefits to our customers within the energy systems of the future.
Produced in consultation with our stakeholders, the Strategy sets out the role that our existing gas infrastructure can play in meeting demand for power, heat, and transport in a low carbon economy. It details our approach based on seven themes: the future of gas; safety and emergency; reliability and maintenance; repair; distribution mains replacement; environment and low carbon; and security.
Read our 'at a glance' summary of the Gas Network Innovation Strategy or download the full Gas Network Innovation Strategy below.
Conference Presentations
Here you can download the latest presentations and materials presented by our team at a range conferences and events.
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Data Sharing Policy for NIA and NIC Projects
Following revisions to the NIA and NIC Governance documents that were published by Ofgem on 30 June 2017, Ofgem has introduced a requirement for us to make available certain network and consumption data we gather in the course of a NIC- or NIA-funded project.
The purpose of this data sharing policy is to make clear how such network or consumption data can be requested by interested parties and the terms on which we will make such data available.
This policy applies to the network data and consumption data arising in the course of a NIC- or NIA-funded project which is not commercially confidential or sensitive.
In accordance with the dissemination requirements of the NIC/NIA governance framework, we already publish much of the data arising from our NIC/NIA projects. You may wish to check this before making an application under this policy, in case the data which you are seeking has already been published.
Network Innovation Competition Projects
Gas Innovation Funding Incentive (IFI) reports
As part of our regulatory requirements, we reported on progress for research and development projects to Ofgem. The following library of IFI Annual Reports provides detail on our full portfolio of IFI projects for the relevant period.
