Ofgem has awarded almost £500,000 from its Strategic Innovation Fund, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, to SSEN Distribution's FORTRESS project, enabling the hospital decarbonisation scheme to advance to the Alpha development phase.

FORTRESS — short for flexibility and optimisation for resilience in energy systems — is designed to help hospitals maintain critical care while shifting from on-site fossil fuel generation to cleaner electricity. The new funding follows a successful bid last year that supported initial studies.

Hospitals are major energy users and have often generated their own power with oil and gas, leaving much of their demand unseen by distribution network operators. As estates move away from high‑carbon fuels, their reliance on local grids will increase; FORTRESS will analyse in detail how different hospital functions consume energy.

The approach prioritises resilience for essential services such as intensive care, while allowing other activities to be supported by flexible heating systems, energy storage and new network access products that enable earlier connections to capacity. This is intended to keep operations safe and secure as sites decarbonise, without placing excessive pressure on local electricity networks.

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In the Alpha phase, SSEN's innovation and technical teams will work closely with partners including NHS Tayside and NHS England to test and refine these solutions. Key tasks include more granular energy profiling across hospital sites, exploring storage options, and running scenarios to understand how facilities would respond during periods of high demand.

The project will also shape a new type of connection agreement so hospitals can access grid capacity sooner, helping to avoid costly upgrades, cut carbon emissions and make better use of existing infrastructure.

Gemma Ennis, FORTRESS Project Delivery Manager at SSEN Distribution, said: "A hospital's key purpose is to provide safe and reliable care for patients. But in this era of volatile, high fossil fuel costs, the healthcare system is eager to move over to more sustainable energy sources.

"The insights FORTRESS is developing into how and when hospitals use the most power is helping us to shape the evolving clean energy system around their specific needs.

"By reducing peaks in electricity demand and improving coordination between hospitals and the wider network, we'll be able to defer some network investment, which will save bill payers' money. These savings help reduce the overall cost of running the network, which ultimately benefits energy bill payers.

"FORTRESS also ensures essential functions remain fully protected, while allowing less critical activities to be more flexible. This balance helps maintain patient safety while reducing pressure on the network where possible."

SSEN thanked partners NHS Tayside, NHS England, SGN and Ricardo for their support. FORTRESS has been successful in the Strategic Innovation Fund cycle's Alpha phase; Ofgem's fund is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Lynne Hamilton, Public Health Programme Director at NHS Tayside added: "NHS Tayside is delighted to expand its collaboration on the Fortress Project. Working alongside SSEN, Ricardo, SGN, and NHS England, we're exploring innovative, flexible heat solutions for our major hospital sites. This exciting initiative will assist NHS Tayside to advance its net-zero estate planning.

"By balancing strict resilience requirements with a smooth transition to renewable energy, the project works towards the achievement of Scottish Government's Climate Emergency and Sustainability targets."