UK makes £13M offer to clean energy innovators

Innovate UK will next week launch a £13 million funding competition for innovation projects that address the global need for clean, affordable and secure energy.

The aim of the Energy Catalyst competition is to accelerate the commercialization of highly innovative, market-focused energy solutions in any technology or sector or international market that address the cost, emissions, and security of supply energy trilemma.

The competition is open to any UK organization and may also include international partners, with three streams set up for early stage, mid-stage, and late stage projects.

Early-stage competition stream will fund technical feasibility projects that can last up to 1 year, with total costs ranging from £50,000 to £300,000. The UK government said the research organizations may lead early-stage projects in partnership with at least one UK business, while the UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can lead the projects with or without partners.

The mid-stage competition stream is designated to industrial research projects, which can last up to 3 years, with total costs ranging from £50,000 to £1.5 million. Mid-stage projects must be collaborative and led by a UK business.

In the late-stage competition stream, the costs ranging from £50,000 to £10 million will be covered for experimental development projects. The projects can last up to 3 years, and must be collaborative and led by a UK business, the UK government noted.

UK government noted that the funding may be prioritized towards technologies and sectors for which alternative sources of public funding are not available, and also for innovations and organizations with a track record of success.

The Energy Catalyst competition is co-founded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID); Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The competition opens on April 24, 2017, with the deadline for applications set on June 28, 2017.