National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has launched its first ‘Call for Innovation’ to businesses to find a low-carbon alternative to backup diesel generators. The electricity and utilities company uses batteries and diesel generators to run critical assets, such as cooling fans, pumps, and lighting in case of a power failure.

The company announced in March that it would seek a third-party supplier to try new backup power systems or combined standby and generation assets as low carbon alternatives.

A spokesperson said, “These backup generators are rarely used and have less than a 1% chance of operating per year, however, on the rare occasion that backup power is required, changing from diesel to low-carbon emission alternatives have the potential to reduce carbon intensity by 90%* and save over 500,000kg of carbon emissions.”

Ben Kuchta, Innovation Engineer for Net Zero Innovation at National Grid said, “As the electricity transmission owner for England and Wales, we play an important role at the heart of the UK’s transition to net zero. It’s important we lead by example, reducing our own emissions and working with others to enable and accelerate the transition to net zero. Finding new low-carbon alternatives to diesel generators is another step on that journey and we encourage suppliers to come forward.”

The deadline for entry to the Call for Innovation is 14 April. Interested suppliers can apply here