Digital twin helping improve the climate resilience of infrastructure gets Ofwat innovation funding

Connected Places Catapult and partners involved in the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) programme are among the winners of a Water Breakthrough Challenge announced today by the water regulator Ofwat.

The project – designed to show the benefits of using connected digital twins to improve infrastructure resilience – has been awarded £913,000 and is one of 16 solutions sharing a fund worth £40 million.

Ofwat’s innovation competition aims to find solutions with the potential to deliver transformational change at scale around challenges such as achieving net zero, protecting natural ecosystems and reducing leakage.

CReDo will work alongside the water industry to help build resilience into infrastructure assets, focusing in particular on addressing the impact of extreme heat on water networks.

Connected Places Catapult’s Ecosystem Director for Integrated Infrastructure, Chris Jones says: “This crucial funding will help infrastructure providers to better understand how extreme heat affects their assets, so that timely investments can be made to improve resilience.”

Partners in the Water Breakthrough Challenge award include Anglian Water, CMCL Innovations, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (part of UKRI), UK Power Networks, United Utilities Group, Affinity Water Limited and a number of universities.

Ofwat Chief Executive David Black said: “The water sector has faced mounting pressure over systemic challenges related to the environment and society, while the climate around us continues to drastically change shape. That’s why we’re funding ground-breaking innovations with potential to help us save and reuse water and wastewater products, while supporting wider society.”

Find out more about CReDo on the Digital Twin Hub.