The energy sector is at a pivotal moment. Transforming how energy is delivered, experiences and valued by customers is essential to achieving a clean energy future. This session brings you the team who engineered EON Next Gen Home energy as a service as they talk through:

• The challenges and opportunities presented by co-creation and partnership working
• First-hand experiences from the innovation journey
• The co-curation of services which change the way energy is valued and consumed
• Successful approaches to true innovation and partnership working
• Overcoming sticking points and barriers and how competing organisations can work together

To meet the ambitious goals set for the short and medium term, utilities must embrace new ways of working. Fairer risk sharing across projects reduces unnecessary contingency, encourages early engagement and gives the supply chain the confidence to invest in new methods, technologies and skills. Join this session to unearth how to better manage risk in construction to build stronger relationships in the supply chain and encourage innovation to drive efficient project delivery.   

In partnership with: 

Deploying and scaling innovation is never straightforward challenges range from securing stakeholder buy-in to adapting solutions for wider rollout. This interactive Q&A session will cover:

• How to turn a successful trial into a business-as-usual solution
• The importance of prioritising genuine problems not innovation for innovations sake
• The value in engaging with stakeholders early and often to overcome the valley of death

With a wealth of innovation projects underway in the utilities industry, there is a clear need to streamline approaches, join forces and reduce the duplication of efforts. This session explores how AI presents a huge opportunity as the panel discuss how AI can:

• Align challenges and streamline investment
• Drive efficiency in innovation trials
• Improve knowledge sharing from projects to encourage faster deployment

Utilities shouldn’t innovate for innovation's sake but seek to uncover hidden inefficiencies. Finding breakthrough solutions and scaling them responsibly is far from straightforward. This session explores how utilities and innovators can work together to surface innovative solutions, validate new approaches and navigate the financial and operational risks of moving from pilot to business‑as‑usual. 

Utilities need to change the way they currently operate to deliver for consumers, achieve sustainability and net zero targets and operate more efficiently. Startups bring a world of potential with fresh ideas, agility and innovative solutions to the utilities industry but maximising new partnerships presents its own challenges. This session offers practical guidance on:
How to build strong partnerships with emerging companies
Ways to navigate procurement approaches to fostering trust
Managing and mitigating risk while accelerating innovation

There's one ingredient that's critical for innovation: failure. Time and again, we're told that if you're going to be successful at innovation, you must be prepared to fail and must create a culture where failure is acceptable. UWL26 is going to do just that, with speakers at our innovation mess up night sharing stories of their own failures, and what they learned from them.

As the energy system undergoes rapid transformation, closer collaboration between academia and the utility industry has never been more critical. This panel brings together researchers, utility leaders and non-departmental public body to explore how academic innovation can more effectively translate into real-world utility applications and how industry challenges can better inform research priorities. Through practical examples and candid discussion, the session will highlight pathways to accelerate knowledge transfer, reduce implementation barriers and build long-term partnerships that support a reliable, affordable, and decarbonised energy future.

• How do we shorten the cycle from academic insight to utility deployment and close the time to impact gap?
• Why do many clean energy pilots stall and how academia and utilities co-design programs that are scalable, repeatable and investment-ready?
• How can industry and academia better align incentives and success metrics to reward impact, deployment, and system benefit?
• Using CP230 frameworks and standards to align research, planning, and investment decisions around outcomes rather than isolated projects
• How can both academia and industry ensure graduates, researchers and practitioners are equipped for modern grid challenges?

The newly formed Institute of Innovation Management and some of its founding partners; EON and BSI, explore how ISO 56001 may offer a foundation to Innovation Management System Frameworks that provide momentum for best practice delivery, impact and resiliency. This session will explore: 

• The challenges faced by those seeking to innovate  
• How frameworks can help embed innovation as a system  
• How systemic innovation management delivers greater value – for organisations and ecosystems 
• Hear from those professionalising innovation management with firsthand experiences bringing the process to life   

Utilities face a critical crossroads continuing with business as usual is no longer an option. Meeting ambitious deliverability and sustainability targets to provide resilient critical national infrastructure requires bold change and fresh thinking. This session brings representatives from Ofwat and Ofgem's innovations funds together to discuss:

• Why networks need to embrace new approaches and innovate better
• What it takes to succeed in a rapidly evolving digital landscape
• How to maximise innovation funding

Despite the many great efforts of individuals and organisations, examples of innovation within utilities remain isolated and great innovations are not deployed at scale. Our panelists set out the practical solutions to this perennial issue, including:

• Don't reinvent the wheel - learning from what has already been done
• Investing in the supply chain and offering critical support to innovators
• Overcoming siloes of excellence and gaining buy in across the boardroom and business
• Embedding proven innovations into business as usual
• Measuring and communicating the impact of innovation

Water is an undervalued resource in the UK and ensuring a sustainable water future can’t rely on reservoir build alone. Customers need to change their habits. Join this creative, interactive session to breakdown the challenges and workshop solutions to help change behaviour for the long term. Problem solve with your peers to exchange insights on what’s working and what’s not and shift perceptions of water and its value.