E.ON sets standard for innovation as founding partner in national network

• E.ON becomes UK’s first energy company to join The Institute of Innovation Management (IIM)
• Partnership aligns E.ON’s innovation practices with ISO 56001, the new global standard for innovation management systems
• Structured approach designed to accelerate affordable, low-carbon solutions for customers and communities, building on E.ON’s growing portfolio of projects from smart automation to large-scale battery storage

E.ON has become the first energy company in the UK to join the newly established Institute of Innovation Management (IIM), joining leading organisations across business, academia and policy in shaping the future of innovation management.

The partnership marks a major step in E.ON’s mission to embed a structured, scalable approach to innovation, ensuring that new ideas deliver measurable outcomes for customers, communities, and the climate. By adopting the principles behind ISO 56001, a global framework for managing innovation with the same rigour as finance or safety, E.ON aims to strengthen how it identifies opportunities, allocates resources and measures results across every part of its business.

As a founding partner of the IIM, E.ON will bring its energy sector expertise to cross-industry collaboration, helping shape best practice in how innovation supports the UK’s transition to clean power.

Zac Curtis, Innovation Lead at E.ON UK,

said: “Innovation thrives on structure and accountability — they’re what turn ideas into real-world progress. Joining the Institute of Innovation Management helps us sharpen our focus and ensure every innovation delivers measurable value: lowering costs, cutting carbon, and improving customer experience.”

Working alongside bodies such as the British Standards Institution (BSI) will allow E.ON’s efforts to stay ahead of regulatory expectations, including those for AI-enabled innovation, while strengthening its wider relationships with government, Ofgem and innovation funding programmes.

Victoria Milne, Director of The Institute of Innovation Management, said: "Having a founding member like E.ON is fundamental to professionalising innovation management and delivering lasting value for people, planet and productivity. Their commitment will help establish best practice, build expertise, set professional standards and champion responsible innovation outcomes."

Structured innovation already plays a key role in E.ON’s approach:

• Targeted: addressing pressing energy challenges, from reducing costs to decarbonising heat and transport, including E.ON’s partnership with Amey to explore the expansion of a new low-carbon district heating network in Sheffield.
• Collaborative: connecting expertise from across E.ON’s international network with UK innovation partners, policymakers and universities, including a £2.5m investment in tech scale-up Amber.
• Measured: assessing each project for impact on customers, carbon reduction and operational efficiency, such as their 15-year energy efficiency partnership with Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre (QMC).