Deadline: 19-Sep-2025
The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) is inviting Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to conduct research on regional energy planning and heat decarbonisation.
Governance of multi-scalar, multi-vector energy system planning involves analysing emerging institutional structures, roles and responsibilities in regional energy planning. It requires examining integration mechanisms across planning scales, identifying key interdependencies and governance gaps, and assessing implications for delivery. It also considers how different governance models might affect planning effectiveness and democratic accountability. Planning processes and knowledge integration focus on how different actors, forms of knowledge and evidence sources are incorporated into processes and any omissions.
This includes identifying key sources of information, how they should be used to form energy system plans, and which parties are best placed to use them. It also addresses the treatment of uncertainty and disagreement within planning frameworks and explores participation mechanisms and democratic involvement options, including the integration of heat network zoning and local energy planning. Implementation and delivery assess how regional planning influences the achievement of net zero energy systems across sectors, scales and actors. It examines decision-making impacts and mechanisms for ensuring timely, equitable deployment of end-use technologies and enabling infrastructure, while also addressing the management of existing infrastructure that may become redundant in the transition.
The authors of successful EoIs will work with UKERC’s Director and research theme leaders to co-create a detailed research proposal, which will contribute to UKERC’s wider programme on Affordability, Justice and Economic Impacts, alongside themes focused on Delivering Energy Infrastructure and Operating a Highly Renewable and Largely Electrified Energy System. The research will begin no later than 30 March 2026 and must conclude by 30 June 2028, with a maximum budget of £312,500 at 100% Full Economic Cost, i.e. £250,000 at 80% FEC.
Eligibility extends to applicants based in UK Higher Education Institutions, Research Council Institutes and Centres, and Independent Research Organisations approved by UKRI. Other organisations such as industry, government agencies, and third sector bodies may take part as project partners but are not eligible to receive Research Council funding directly. Individual applicants may submit one EoI as Principal Investigator plus one as Co-Investigator, or two as Co-Investigators.
The call comes as the governments of the UK, Wales, and Scotland strengthen their strategic approach to energy infrastructure planning through initiatives such as the Centralised Strategic Network Plan, the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, and the development of Regional Energy Strategic Plans. These frameworks will act as blueprints for regional energy requirements, addressing the transformation of infrastructure and identifying areas for strategic investment.
Successful proposals will be expected to engage directly with stakeholders across national, regional, and local levels, aligning research timelines with key regulatory cycles such as energy network price controls and transitional planning processes. Applicants are asked to clearly define their research questions, methods, team roles, and outputs, while also demonstrating experience in whole-system energy planning and stakeholder engagement.
Expressions of Interest should additionally outline pathways to impact, the contribution to the UKERC community, attention to equality, diversity and inclusion principles, and provide a detailed budget that includes costs for attending at least two UKERC meetings per year.
Submissions must be made by 17:00 on 19 September 2025, after which a UKERC review panel will select the EoIs to progress into co-creation and full proposal development.
For more information, visit UKERC.
