On behalf of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), Frontier is working on Nature4Networks, an innovation project funded through Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund.

The project has secured £7.9m of Ofgem funding as part of a wider £18m package announced by SSEN, supporting large-scale, real-world trials of nature-based solutions to improve the resilience of electricity networks in a changing climate.

Using nature-based solutions to strengthen electricity networks

Nature4Networks is testing how nature-based solutions can be used alongside, or in place of, traditional engineered approaches to protect and deliver electricity infrastructure. The project focuses on practical interventions that can improve resilience, reduce interruptions and safely deliver necessary network infrastructure, while also bringing wider environmental and community benefits.

The Beta phase includes trials of:

• sustainable drainage systems around substations to manage flood risk;
• bioswale drainage channels to provide secondary containment for transformer oil; and
• planting and linear woodland to protect overhead lines and network assets.

These trials build on earlier phases of the project and are intended to generate robust evidence on performance, costs and benefits, supporting decisions on wider rollout across electricity networks.

Frontier is providing economic and regulatory analysis to support the assessment of value for money and consumer benefits associated with the different nature-based interventions. This includes evaluating how these solutions compare with more traditional engineering options, how costs and benefits evolve over time, and how learning from the trials can inform future network planning and investment decisions.

A key focus of Frontier’s work is supporting evidence-led decision-making by demonstrating how nature-based solutions could be scaled beyond individual trial sites, and how they might be incorporated into business-as-usual approaches while delivering clear benefits for consumers. This aligns closely with Ofgem’s emphasis on robust benefit assessment, replicability and the development of funding and co-investment models that enable wider adoption.

Frontier forms part of a consortium led by SSEN and including GHD, the James Hutton Institute, Guidehouse and Great Yellow, bringing together engineering, environmental science and economic expertise.

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