Accelerating Rural Decarbonisation: Updates on the REACH Innovation Project 2025 | Regen | 12 May 2025 | Online

From March to May 2024, Regen was involved in an Ofgem-funded innovation project exploring alternative options for rural communities in constrained electricity network areas to achieve their decarbonisation ambitions. This is known as the “Discovery” phase.

We were exploring the potential for rural communities to overcome grid demand-related grid constraints by installing an “energy centre” including a battery, with the option of Electric Vehicle chargers, smart controls and a centrally controlled heating system.

During the Discovery and Alpha phases, we have been exploring this idea and learned more about how it could work in communities. We also selected seven community organisations to partner with us on the project, with two potentially continuing with us into the next phase of the project.

We’re now part way through our Alpha phase and are excited to share an update with community energy stakeholders across the UK.

Why are we holding this event?
During the Discovery phase, we were overwhelmed by the number of community energy stakeholders in the National Grid (Electricity Distribution) license areas interested in this project. Through this engagement, we learned about rural communities' ambitions and the scale of the issue we’re looking to address.

At this event, you will:
• Learn about the issue of demand constraints and how it could impact rural community energy projects
• Hear about the solution being explored in this innovation project, the possible role of community energy organisations in deploying it, and the potential benefits.
• Provide valuable feedback to the project team about the potential use cases for the energy centre concept.
• Have plenty of time to ask questions

We’d also love to get your feedback on the different possible use cases for the solution we’re looking to develop.

2025 Speakers

George Middlemiss
Local Energy Analyst, Regen

Jessica Hogan
Energy Analyst, [Company Name Goes Here]

Lawrence Hunter
National Grid

Matthew Osborn
Passiv UK

James Whale
General Manager, VEPOD