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The UK’s Science Minister Lord Patrick John Thompson Vallance has issued The Clean Energy: 2GW Peak Time Flexibility challenge for tech experts to develop cutting edge technology that will help shift peak electricity demand by 2030.
An initial £4 million ($5.4 million) for the first year of a five-year challenge will support researchers to come up with solutions that help shift electricity demand in evenings and weekends in the UK by 2GW.
As demand for energy spikes – like in the early evening when people return home – the grid often turns to gas-fired power stations, which are more expensive and more polluting.
The hope of the challenge is that innovators across the UK will work to deliver better forecasting, as well as help manage and shift demand at busy times by the equivalent to the amount used by one and a half million homes.
The UK lists the following hypotheticals as examples:
- Getting AI to predict how much energy will be used days ahead of time, plugging in data from things like smart meters, weather forecasts, and when people have the television on.
- Automatically heating or cooling buildings when clean energy is most available, and at its cheapest.
- Using parked EVs as giant batteries – charging them when electricity is cheap and sending power back to the grid when it’s needed.
This could reduce the need to build network infrastructure and new power plants, leading to a reduction in consumer bills in the longer term.
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The Clean Energy: 2GW Peak Time Flexibility challenge is the first of five to be announced as part of the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme – backed by £500 million ($672.6 million) set out in the Spending Review.
The project will be led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in collaboration with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which is responsible for leading the government’s clean energy mission.
Said Vallance in a release: “We’re calling on Britain’s brightest minds and innovative businesses to help us cut energy bills, boost energy security, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
“R&D has the power to change lives and we want to harness it to deliver real, measurable progress towards the government’s five missions and turn bold ideas into real solutions by 2030.”
By April 2026, says the UK government in a release, the initial £4 million will bring Britain’s expert AI and energy businesses, universities and research organisations together to explore where current solutions can be scaled up, build use-cases and enable testing – including building simulation and modelling capability.
Minister for Climate Kerry McCarthy said: “We are working to build a more flexible electricity system, giving households more choice and control over when and how they use energy.
“This new challenge will help deliver that, exploiting the exciting potential of AI and other cutting-edge tech to help more people access flexible tariffs and save on bills as part of our Plan for Change.”
Funding will be awarded to a consortium of existing world-leading centres based around the UK including the Energy Systems and Digital Catapults, and other leading research institutions to lead the work.
Shubhi Rajnish, chief information officer at the UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO), said: “With nearly 2 million households already registered to our world-first Demand Flexibility Service – rewarding customers to turn down or shift their energy use during peak hours – we know that smart innovation really can make a difference.
“Harnessing new technology like AI to optimise the way Britain uses its electricity isn’t only going to help make things more affordable for consumers, it’s going to help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and improve energy security, helping us on our road to clean power by 2030.”
Sonia Brown, group head of Strategy, Innovation and Market Analytics at National Grid, said: “Innovation across Britain’s electricity networks is already helping to deliver a smarter, more sustainable energy system.
“This new initiative will build on that momentum, boosting efforts to harness AI and digital technologies to reduce peak demand and support a more secure, affordable and clean energy future.”
