Innovation Award
Celebrating the ambition, creativity and determination of utilities as they push the boundaries of collaborative innovation.
Innovation Award
Celebrating the ambition, creativity and determination of utilities as they push the boundaries of collaborative innovation.
Good Energy and Granular Energy
Good Energy is the first energy supplier in the world to launch hourly matching for all business customers. Going beyond the standard, opaque ‘100% renewable’ offers to establish a better, more credible and transparent way to buy renewable electricity that creates a whole new incentive for demand flexibility and energy storage.
Many other energy suppliers in the UK and around the world have now followed Good Energy’s leadership.
Granular Energy is a tech company that provides the software necessary for matching clean energy with consumers with both high levels of granularity at scale.
Last Mile Heat
Last Mile, with design and build partner Rendesco, is delivering the UK’s largest ambient water-source heat network at Welborne Garden Village, providing low-carbon heat, cooling and hot water to 700 homes and community buildings.
Eventually growing to cover 6,000 homes, schools, healthcare facilities and more, the system delivers exceptional energy efficiency, reducing CO₂ emissions by 80% versus gas and demonstrating a regulation-ready solution for net zero development.
Northumbrian Water Group
Northumbrian Water Group’s Smart Sewer project is a pioneering £20 million initiative that leverages AI, digital twins, and real-time sensor networks to reduce storm overflow spills. Since its launch in July 2024, the system has prevented over 20 spills and reduced discharges by up to 40%.
With over 700 sensors deployed and a new control room in development, the project is transforming wastewater management. It combines global expertise with local innovation, setting a new benchmark for environmental protection and operational efficiency. Smart Sewers is a scalable, high-impact solution redefining infrastructure management in the UK water sector.
OVO Energy and Kaluza
Battery Boost is a unique and first of its kind battery flexibility proposition developed by OVO and Kaluza. Battery Boost intelligently charges residential batteries with cheaper, greener energy helping customers save an average of £100 annually on their energy bills.
The smart charging technology means that we can charge a customer’s battery at a 60% discount to the Ofgem price cap. Critically, it also supports the UK's transition to a net-zero grid by shifting household consumption to periods of high renewable generation, reducing strain during carbon-intensive peak demand and maximising utilisation of the UK’s clean power.
Serimax in collaboration with Anglian Water
Serimax, in collaboration with Anglian Water on the Strategic Pipeline Alliance, pioneered a spatter-free pipeline welding for minimal commissioning flush innovation that dramatically reduces water waste from commissioning and enhances pipeline integrity. By eliminating weld spatter, coating damage and internal pipe access, this solution supports the UK’s water resilience and decarbonisation goals.
The approach has already delivered up to 85% water savings during commissioning stages of the project and is being shared across other AMP8 projects. This innovation exemplifies collaborative delivery, safety, and sustainability — transforming how critical infrastructure is built.
SGN
High-volume gas escapes, while rare, present significant risks to safety, supply resilience and the environment. SGN’s High Volume Gas Escape Toolkit (HVGET) is a pioneering solution featuring three specialist tools – the Bosie, Frog and Bung – designed to rapidly contain uncontrolled leaks in metallic and polyethylene pipelines up to 2 bar.
Developed under NIA funding, and now licensed for manufacture, HVGET enables safe, temporary containment, reduces methane emissions, and creates safer conditions for operatives to complete permanent repairs. With national rollout underway, HVGET is transforming emergency response and setting a new benchmark in gas network safety.
UK Power Networks
The UK’s first day-ahead flexibility market is opening up the vast potential of the flexibility marketplace towards Clear Power 2030 and Net Zero.
Before April 2024 we ran two flexibility tenders per year. Since April 2024, 17 providers have participated in more than 1,600 local competitions, with >7.5GWh of flexibility utilised in our day-ahead market. Aligning with national ancillary and wholesale markets, day-ahead market supports flexibility growth and the stacking of opportunities between local and national markets.
The market is supported by data-driven innovation: network forecasts driven by real-time measurements and local weather forecasts, automated market clearing, and APIs.
United Utilities
The ALT-P project has transformed phosphorus removal at rural wastewater treatment works. Led by United Utilities and funded by the Ofwat Innovation Fund, the project pioneered alternatives to conventional metal-based coagulant dosing - including natural, plant-based coagulants - delivering significant carbon and cost efficiencies. ALT-P has already influenced supply chains and sector standards, exemplifying collaborative innovation through trials, workshops, and dissemination. Crucially, United Utilities didn’t stop there - they fast-tracked emerging outcomes into AMP7 delivery and adopted natural coagulants as a standard solution for AMP8, demonstrating how innovation can move from lab to legacy with ambition, urgency, and enduring impact.
