Bright Spark

This episode explores how SMEs can turn their innovations into successful, scalable businesses.

In the first conversation, Nikita Dabizha, founder and CEO of VoltQuant, shares insights into his business and practical lessons for innovators, including refining business models around customer needs, building strong relationships with network organisations, and leveraging programmes such as the Strategic Innovation Fund and Free Electrons to develop partnerships and support growth.

In the second conversation, Elinor Doubell, a Scale Up Director within Innovate UK Business Growth, explores opportunities for innovation in the clean energy sector, including grid flexibility, solar and offshore wind. She discusses the challenges of commercialisation and scaling, and the role of Innovate UK Business Growth in helping innovative businesses navigate their growth journeys, access relevant expertise and make the connections needed to realise their potential.

Useful links and resources

Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF):

• SIF and the new Deployment Phase: Find out more via Innovate UK Business Connect
• SIF’s challenges for the next five years and Innovation Delivery Groups (IDGs): Networks Reimagined – Designed to Deliver for Customers and Growth
• Get involved with SIF’s Innovation Delivery Groups: SIF Expression of Interest – IDG Participation

Organisations supporting SMEs in energy innovation:

• Energy Innovation Centre (EIC)
• The Catapult Network
• The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

https://www.voltquant.com/

In this episode, Emilia, Commercial Lead on the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) programme, is joined by Paul, Head of Commercial for SIF, to explore how SMEs can navigate the energy innovation ecosystem and turn promising ideas into commercially successful solutions.

They discuss the vital role SMEs play in transforming the energy system, the opportunities created by grid investment, and how organisations, such as Innovate UK, and programmes like the SIF, support innovation. The conversation explores the importance of understanding network challenges, building strong relationships and securing investment.

This episode is full of practical advice for SMEs looking to overcome barriers in the regulated energy networks sector, navigate the innovation ecosystem and bridge the gap between successful pilots and commercial adoption.

Useful links and resources

Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF):

• SIF and the new Deployment Phase: Find out more via Innovate UK Business Connect
• SIF’s challenges for the next five years and Innovation Delivery Groups (IDGs): Networks Reimagined – Designed to Deliver for Customers and Growth
• Get involved with SIF’s Innovation Delivery Groups: SIF Expression of Interest – IDG Participation

Organisations supporting SMEs in energy innovation:

• Energy Innovation Centre (EIC)
• The Catapult Network
• The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=juC3i6TajkqSfvyjjbBLfmG8KZdPnblCn5Z2Xo1at3ZUMUY1QVVYRjlZTERRWloyOE1ZVElIMDNRWSQlQCN0PWcu&origin=QRCode

Energy Networks are becoming more distributed and complex. Electricity Distribution Network Operators (DNO) are at the sharp end of this evolution and their capabilities to manage such systems need to transform at pace.

Joe Davidson, Energy Systems Innovation Lead at SIF, spoke with Northern Powergrid and Faculty AI to find out more about the work of their Artificial Forecasting Beta project.

Artificial Forecasting, led by Northern Powergrid, is developing a tool that will transform load forecasting capabilities, enable the more optimal procurement of flexibility, and maximise the use of existing network capacity. They will also be the first DNO-led SIF Project to conclude their demonstration phase when their Beta finishes in February 2027.

Links:

• Northern Powergrid’s Open Data Portal - https://northernpowergrid.opendatasoft.com/pages/home/
• Artificial Forecasting Dissemination page - https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/10145998/
• SIF website: www.ofgem.gov.uk/sif
• Subscribe to the Ofgem SIF newsletter: https://cloud.email.comms.iuk.ukri.org/ofgem-sif-sign-up
• Contact the SIF Mailbox if you want to know more, [email protected]

In this episode Jodie talks to Marzia Zafar, Deputy Director for Digitalisation and Innovation at Ofgem, and Laura Sandys CBE, Chair of the Energy Network Innovation Taskforce, about the SIF’s new programmatic approach to delivering transformational Innovation in the next five year price control.

The programmatic approach has two aspects: Firstly, the Energy Network Innovation Taskforce brought together industry innovation teams and leaders from the energy network sector and beyond. Their role: to identify ambitious, long-term and outcome driven challenges to bring strategic focus to the SIF for the five-year RIIO-3 price control period.

Secondly, the introduction of Innovation Delivery Groups to provide a collaboration framework across networks for addressing these Innovation Challenges and ensure accountability to deliver outcomes that reflect customer needs alongside economic growth.

Listen to the conversation to find out more.

· The identified challenges have been published in the ‘Networks Reimagined: Driving innovation for a future energy system’ report - read here

· Find out more about the SIF on the Innovate UK Business Connect webpage

· Sign up to Innovate UK’s regular SIF newsletter

Climate change means that more extreme weather is going to hit Great Britain. It is vital that we do our best to understand and predict the risks to build resilience in the energy sector.

Nicolas Wallet, energy systems innovation lead at SIF, caught up with James Daniel, Alanna Gluck, and Amit Bhave, to find out more about the work of their Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo+), beta project.

CReDO+, led by UK Power Networks, is developing a tool that will bring data and expert knowledge together to help networks and regulators see where resilience spending will make the biggest difference for energy customers.

Find out more about the SIF on the Innovate UK Business Connect Website

Sign up to Innovate UK’s regular SIF newsletter

In this episode of Bright Spark we look back at the Strategic Innovation Fund's successes across 2025 and give a preview of what’s in store for 2026.

Across 2025 the SIF continued to fund transformational innovation projects. We received 391 applications, 70% of these were funded, with £25.7 million pounds of funding approved for 40 innovation projects.

In 2026 we are looking forward to the start of the RIIO 3 price control for NESO, gas networks and electricity transmission. Find out how the SIF team has been working with our Ofgem colleagues to influence change, and what’s in store from the SIF as we move into this new phase.

SIF programme director Jodie Giles is joined for this one by Head of Delivery Kate Jones, Head of Innovation Laura Glover and Head of Commercial Paul Padaruth.

1. Find out more about the SIF on our SIF programme page on the Business Connect website
2. You can also find our new 2025 Annual Report and the latest version of our Project Directory on the SIF programme page
3. Sign up to the SIF newsletter for regular updates SIF news and events
4. SIF Round 5 EoI form - share your ideas and expertise with the SIF team
5. Predict for resilience podcast

Bright Spark is a Bespoken Media production

In this first episode of a two-part series, we explore what commercialisation and deployment mean within the Strategic Innovation Fund, and how the SIF team is working to drive impact at scale across the energy system through funded innovation. We explore the SIF team's internal framework for assessing projects, along with the support the team provides to networks and third-party innovators to help embed new solutions. The conversation also covers network culture, the price control mechanism, and why pace and delivering value for billpayers are crucial. Stay tuned for Part Two, which will focus on what it takes to deploy proven innovation at scale across the energy system.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-regulation/technology-and-innovation/innovation/strategic-innovation-fund-sif

What is the future of network resilience and preparedness?

Ellen Webb-Moore, energy systems innovation lead at SIF, visits the headquarters of SP Energy Networks to learn about two projects that both address resilience and preparedness, from different angles. 

First, Fraser Lynch joins Ellen to talk about Predict 4 Resilience (P4R) - a SIF beta-funded tool that will predict outages and faults on the network using weather and other data, to mobilise personnel and proactively prepare resources ahead of severe and disruptive weather events. 

In the second half of the episode, Daniel Barlow and Agusti Alvarez SIF Blade share how a second SIF-support project - SIF BLADE - can harness offshore wind to restart the grid in the event of a national transmission electricity system outage.   

Sign up to the SIF newsletter for regular updates on SIF news and events

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/

Join Jim and Laura for the second instalment of this two-part series on consumer-led flexibility, explored through the SIF funded Crowdflex project. The project examines how households can actively support grid balancing—whether by shifting their energy use to different times or enabling smart, automated control of their electric vehicles.

In this episode, SIF Policy Lead Jim Wrigley is joined by OVO’s Elizabeth Allkins and Ohme’s Rosie Knight, both project partners in Crowdflex acting as Demand Side Response Service Providers (DSRSPs). Together, they discuss what flexibility looks like from a customer’s perspective and consider the vital roles of trust and diversity in making consumer-led flexibility a reality.

For more details, check out NESO’s press release on the Winter trial results, and explore the full set of reports on the Crowdflex webpage.

If you haven’t listened already, make sure you check out part one first (the episode before this one in your podcast feed) where Jim talks to NESO’s Cathy Fraser on building confidence in the use of consumer-led flexibility.

Ohme: Smarter, Greener & Cheaper EV Charging At Home | Ohme

OVO: https://www.ovoenergy.com/

Sign up to the SIF newsletter for regular updates on SIF news and events

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/

Join Jim and Laura for the second instalment of this two-part series on consumer-led flexibility, explored through the SIF funded Crowdflex project. The project examines how households can actively support grid balancing—whether by shifting their energy use to different times or enabling smart, automated control of their electric vehicles.

In this episode, SIF Policy Lead Jim Wrigley is joined by OVO’s Elizabeth Allkins and Ohme’s Rosie Knight, both project partners in Crowdflex acting as Demand Side Response Service Providers (DSRSPs). Together, they discuss what flexibility looks like from a customer’s perspective and consider the vital roles of trust and diversity in making consumer-led flexibility a reality.

For more details, check out NESO’s press release on the Winter trial results, and explore the full set of reports on the Crowdflex webpage.

If you haven’t listened already, make sure you check out part one first (the episode before this one in your podcast feed) where Jim talks to NESO’s Cathy Fraser on building confidence in the use of consumer-led flexibility.

Ohme: Smarter, Greener & Cheaper EV Charging At Home | Ohme

OVO: https://www.ovoenergy.com/

Sign up to the SIF newsletter for regular updates on SIF news and events

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/