Keen AI has secured GBP £355,985 in Alpha-phase funding from Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund to develop a shared AI model for monitoring electricity grid assets. The project brings together all three of Great Britain's transmission operators.
The system, known as Foundational Shared Model Operations, or FoSMo, is being developed with lead partner National Grid. It also includes SP Energy Networks, SSEN Transmission, UK Power Networks and SP Electricity North West.
The group aims to build what it describes as Britain's first collaborative AI system for asset management across the electricity network. It is intended to standardise how operators collect, analyse and use visual data from infrastructure including pylons, cables, insulators and fittings.
At present, network operators tend to build their own computer-vision tools separately, even though they inspect many of the same types of equipment. This creates duplicate costs and leaves each operator with a smaller pool of examples of rare faults, making model training harder.
FoSMo is designed to address that by pooling anonymised data from participating operators into a shared foundation model. Each operator would then be able to fine-tune the model for use on its own network.
The funding follows a discovery phase that tested the concept across participating networks. Keen AI will act as the technical steward for the model, including development, maintenance and UK hosting.
Shared approach
The consortium argues that the physical electricity network already functions as a connected system, while the AI used to inspect it remains fragmented. Because asset types and defect patterns are often similar across networks, a shared model could let operators learn from a broader dataset than any one company could gather alone.
According to the project partners, the model will use anonymised datasets contributed under a permissive licence at no further cost to participants. The design also aims to limit data collection and long-term storage, with control retained within each operator's own environment where data is needed.
Keen AI says it has already processed more than one billion images for electricity transmission and distribution customers. Several of the operators now involved in FoSMo are already among its customers.
Cost and reliability
The consortium estimates that, if adopted across all participating operators, the shared approach could save the industry about GBP £22.6 million over five years from 2027. Those savings would come from avoiding separate model development and from fewer faults linked to improved condition assessment.
The project also carries a customer reliability claim. The partners estimate that better identification of defects on overhead line components before failure could prevent about 85,000 customer interruptions a year and avoid 5.2 million minutes of lost power once the model is fully adopted.
That potential gain comes as network companies face pressure to maintain reliability while preparing for a substantial expansion of the grid. The electricity system is expected to grow as new overhead lines, substations and connection points are added to support decarbonisation targets.
FoSMo is intended to provide a common monitoring layer for those new assets from the outset, rather than requiring each operator to build inspection systems independently as the network expands.
Domestic control
The project also reflects a wider debate over who develops and controls digital systems used in critical infrastructure. Keen AI and its partners say the models will be built and hosted domestically by UK operators, with data ownership remaining in the country.
This has taken on greater weight as the government has classified electricity network infrastructure as a critical national priority, and as energy regulators and operators prepare for a prolonged period of grid investment.
Amjad Karim, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Keen AI, said, "The UK is investing tens of billions in its electricity network. We can either build the AI that manages it ourselves or hand that capability to someone else. FoSMo keeps it here with AI developed collaboratively, data owned by the industry, and only getting better as the grid expands. When every major network operator shares what they know about their assets, we end up with something more robust than any of them could build alone. That's how the UK can future-proof a grid that's about to double in size."
National Grid is leading the project within the consortium. The shared model could support network upgrades while reducing duplicated spending across operators.
Matthew Ward, Innovation Engineer, National Grid Electricity Transmission, Lead Partner, said: "We recognise the significant value that AI tools can bring to enhancing operational insight and efficiency, so we're very pleased to work with Keen AI on this project. By pooling data and expertise, the model has the potential to support our upgrades of the grid while also making considerable cost savings across the industry."