National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) has partnered with Space Solar to investigate the potential of distributing electricity without wires, as part of a new innovation project examining whether wireless transmission could support the electricity network in the UK.
The Wireless Power Transmission project will explore whether ground-based wireless technology could supplement overhead lines and underground cables, and whether it could play a role in improving network resilience and speeding up grid connections.
NGED said the project will assess possible use cases including emergency response situations, such as storms, and improving service for customers in remote areas. It will also consider whether wireless transmission could help move energy from offshore renewables, and whether it could offer an alternative approach to power transfer in National Landscapes.
The work comes as electricity demand is expected to rise significantly over the coming decades, with estimates suggesting that demand will double in the UK by 2050, requiring four times the amount of renewable generating capacity as we have today. Against that backdrop, NGED frames this project as a way of testing how the distribution network could evolve, even while recognising that overhead lines and cables will continue to be required.
The project is being funded through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK. NGED linked the project to broader efforts to coordinate innovation across the sector, pointing to the creation of the Energy Networks Innovation Taskforce, commissioned by Ofgem and Innovate UK, which brought together senior leaders from industry and energy networks to identify challenges for the SIF to tackle.
Tim Polack, NGED’s Director of Strategy and Transformation, noted, “Innovative thinking is fundamental to supporting the transition to a cleaner energy future, and the Wireless Power Transmission project will explore how state-of-the-art technology could transform the electricity network to deliver resilience, cost and connection benefits to customers.”
Sam Adlen, Co-CEO of Space Solar, added, “We are delighted to be able to work with National Grid to explore the opportunities for wireless power transmission. We have all seen the revolution that wireless technology enabled with communications. As energy demand accelerates, advances in wireless power transmission offer great potential to support our growing electricity infrastructure needs.”
Faster connections, fewer constraints?
Beyond resilience, NGED’s announcement also leans heavily on the long-running challenge of connection queues and constraints across the power system.
The company suggests that wireless transmission could reduce the need for constraint payments and lower system costs by shortening connection times from years to months, though it does not set out how those savings would be realised in practice, or what scale of deployment would be required.
It also argues that faster integration of renewables could reduce curtailment – in turn easing pressure on bills – and that ‘wireless beaming technology’ could reduce bottlenecks and the need for Active Network Management.
That is a familiar promise in a system where new generation is frequently built faster than it can be connected, and where reinforcement of infrastructure is often slowed by cost, planning and local opposition. But the project is, at this stage, an exploration rather than a deployment plan, and the crucial question will be what the technology can deliver in real-world operating conditions, and at what cost, compared with conventional reinforcement.
Where could wireless power transmission fit?
The project’s stated scope suggests NGED is looking at specific, high-value scenarios rather than a wholesale replacement for wires.
Emergency response is one obvious candidate. Severe weather can damage infrastructure and leave communities without power while repairs are carried out. If a wireless system could provide temporary support during restoration efforts, it could potentially reduce the impact of outages in the most exposed areas.
Another focus is remote communities, where new lines and cables can be expensive and logistically challenging – and where planning constraints can also be more sensitive. NGED also points to National Landscapes, a reminder that the build-out of energy infrastructure increasingly faces a balancing act between decarbonisation goals and local environmental considerations.
What happens next?
NGED and Space Solar have not provided technical detail on the approach, a delivery timeline, or where trials might take place. The project will assess whether wireless transmission can meaningfully supplement existing infrastructure and whether it can support the network in specific use cases, including storm response and improving service to remote areas.
If the technology proves viable, it would still need to clear the hurdles that face most grid innovation: technical validation, safety and standards, cost justification, and regulatory acceptance. In the nearer term, however, NGED’s message is that while wires are not going anywhere, the sector is under enough pressure that even unconventional ideas are worth testing.
