Olsights: Clearing the path to grid connection 

The energy transition is generating a high volume of new clean energy projects, but getting them connected to the grid has become a defining bottleneck that threatens to hold back progress.  

Indeed, UK grid connection queues are oversubscribed by more than 700 GW. What’s more, the planning tools used to assess and prioritise projects remain slow, fragmented and rooted in static spreadsheets or costly consultancy studies. This is leading to years-long delays on projects, stranded investment and affordable low-carbon power that is unable to reach the network. 

Olsights was founded in 2020 by Tony and Rosie Griffiths, who left the oil and gas industry due to a combination of industry decline and a conviction that clean energy needed better decision-making, not just better technology.  

Tony’s background lies in systems engineering and mega-project delivery, and he also holds a Master’s in Operational Research. Rosie, meanwhile, has complementary strengths in community engagement, design and marketing. Together, they started Olsights to build tools that can help developers and network planners to understand grid capacity, assess project feasibility and make faster, better-informed decisions. 

Energy system planning is data-rich but insight-poor. Grid, land-use, carbon and demand datasets are siloed across organisations and formats, and that makes integrated analysis laborious and costly to carry out. Existing tools offer little visibility into why some projects advance while others stall – undermining trust, slowing investment and leaving developers reliant on information that provides answers but not understanding. 

For smaller developers in particular, the gap is acute. Without internal analysts or access to enterprise-grade tools, they are left navigating complex connection processes largely blind, and unable to model how new storage assets interact with existing grid constraints, or to stress-test scenarios before committing capital. 

The deeper problem, as Tony identified early on through more than 35 customer discovery interviews, was not a lack of data. It was the absence of tools that allowed people to see and interact with the future, rather than simply read about it. 

As a Lighthouse company within the GridFlex Innovator Programme, delivered by Digital Catapult and Energy Systems Catapult and funded by Innovate UK, Olsights received in-depth, tailored support designed to accelerate its journey from validated prototype to scalable product. 

To enable the deep tech startup to scale, Digital Catapult’s research and design team ran a dedicated stakeholder workshop, mapping Olsights’ innovator journey and surfacing hidden pain points and priority use cases. This was followed by value proposition and messaging work from the Consumer Insights team to help the company develop clearer, audience-specific positioning for both technical and non-technical buyers. This was a critical gap for a product that needed to speak to engineers, planners and boardrooms alike. 

The Business Modelling Team provided structured support to identify routes to market, model commercial opportunities and define the trade-offs involved in different growth strategies. In parallel, Digital Catapult’s Startup Investment team reviewed Olsights’ pitch deck in a dedicated one-to-one session, which helped the founders to sharpen their investment narrative that would enable them to scale. Finally, introductions to key contacts at NESO through the Ecosystem Team opened up further conversations around value pool development and the role of spatial planning tools in a net zero grid, accelerating the practical application of deep tech innovation in industry 

The Alpha Phase produced working prototypes across five platform components: a landowner-facing customer portal, streamlined digital processes, automated map drafting, AI-powered asset recognition (enabling customers to photograph poles or equipment for identification rather than requiring a site visit), and end-to-end digital contracting with automated agreement generation. 

With Digital Catapult’s targeted and tailored support, Olsights advanced a next-generation spatial planning and decision-support platform built on AI and reinforcement learning.  

Its AI-driven data fabric automates the ingestion, mapping and fusion of electricity, hydrogen, heat and carbon datasets – reducing manual data preparation by over 70%. VectorTwin, its reinforcement learning digital twin engine, simulates how clusters of projects compete for grid capacity, surfacing risks such as congestion and stranded assets alongside opportunities for optimal storage siting. An interactive planning interface and AI-powered Co-Pilot layer makes complex scenarios transparent to non-technical stakeholders, thereby reducing dependence on costly consultancy reports. 

The platform’s real-world credentials have grown steadily. An early LinkedIn demo as part of the programme, showcasing CO₂ emission clusters attracted The Crown Estate as a long-term partner. Olsights has since secured Strategic Innovation Fund phases with SSEN Transmission and is currently delivering the REACT project, using its platform to frame grid reinforcement scenarios and support faster, more transparent investment decisions. 

Looking ahead, Olsights is focused on moving from prototype to commercial product. This will involve developing tiered offerings for enterprise and SME customers, formalising co-development partnerships with regulated network operators, and building the evidence base needed to drive wider adoption across the sector. 

Some of the contacts we’ve made through the Catapults have opened doors to some potential new projects. Rosie Griffiths
CCO & Creative Director at Olsights