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NETWORK / 10 / MAY 2018 T he UK electricity network consists of 821,000km of lines and cables while the gas network has 284,000km of pipes. This infrastructure delivers 300TWh of electricity and al- most 900TWh of gas to consum- ers across the country; they are the backbone of our economy and our way of life. One core component of this is innovation. Innovation helps the networks develop to reach goals and INNOVATION meet challenges of the energy networks through focusing on an e‚ cient, smarter, cleaner energy system that is ƒ t for Brit- ain's homes and businesses. Since 2004, over 1,300 in- novation projects have been de- livered by the gas and electricity networks, increasing e‚ ciency and allowing network operators to better understand how to in- tegrate new energy technologies such as electric vehicles, renew- able distributed generation and decarbonised sources of gas into our energy system. Independent research carried out by Pöyry has shown that existing innova- tion projects used by electricity network operators alone could deliver up to £1.7bn of beneƒ ts by 2031. The current RIIO price control mechanism, which supports such projects through the Network Innovation Allow- ance (NIA) and the Network Innovation Competition (NIC), has been key to driving success forward. As well as support- Strategies for success Matt Hindle and Randolph Brazier from the Energy Networks Association discuss how the organisation's gas and electricity innovation strategies will bring major developments to the energy networks. ing the projects themselves, these mechanisms have been vital to embedding a culture of innovation within our energy networks, saving customers billions of pounds through ef- ƒ ciency savings. Driven by decarbonisa- tion, digitisation and decen- tralisation, network innovation projects are already helping energy network operators iden- tify new ways of better serving their customers. Last month's publication of the inaugural ENA held its fi rst Electricity Innovation Forum in March.