Nearly £50 million in government funding is being made available
today to support the future of British industry.
£49.4 million will be awarded to pioneering projects across the
country, helping drive economic growth through the development of
fuel-switching technology which will see a wide range of
industries, including steel, ceramics, pharmaceuticals and food
production, reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and slash
energy costs.
Business and Energy Minister said:
We’re investing nearly £50 million to back British industry,
making sure they’re fit for the future and helping end their
dependency on expensive fossil fuels.
Developing fuel-switching technology will make this possible,
accelerating the transition to cleaner fuels across our economy,
and driving down costs for businesses.
Industrial fuel switching shifts industrial energy use from high
carbon to low carbon fuels, with the aim of decarbonising
industry in line with the UK’s target of reaching Net Zero by
2050 while boosting economic growth, jobs and prosperity.
Fossil fuels (including coal, gas and oil) made up
around 55% of industrial energy
consumption in 2019. As set out in the Industrial Decarbonisation
Strategy, to decarbonise industry in line with net zero, it
is expected that industrial emissions need to fall by around 2
thirds by 2035 and at least 90% by 2050.
Investing in this technology will make it easier and more
cost-effective for industry to be powered by cleaner fuels like
hydrogen and renewable electricity, instead of fossil fuels. The
funding announced today, available through Phase 2 of the £55
million Industrial Fuel Switching
competition, will support the development of new fuel
switching technology in the UK, helping to attract private
investment into the country and supporting new green jobs.
Supporting British industry to end their dependency on fossil
fuels is a vital part of the government’s plans to boost domestic
energy resilience, alongside accelerating renewables and scaling
up nuclear.
Under Phase 2 of the Industrial Fuel Switching competition, fuel
switching projects can apply for a share of £49.4 million
government funding. This follows Phase 1 of the competition,
which saw £5.6 million awarded in May 2022 to 21 projects for
early-stage feasibility studies into their project designs.
Previous winners under Phase 1 included:
- projects helping the ceramics, food production and steel
sectors become powered by hydrogen instead of natural gas
- technology to develop heat pumps for food and pharmaceutical
businesses
- studies exploring switching glass making facilities from
natural gas to gasified waste and biomass
Notes to editors
- The Industrial Fuel Switching competition is funded through
the BEIS £1
billion Net Zero Innovation
Portfolio
- the competition supports innovation in the development of
pre-commercial fuel switch and fuel switch enabling technology
for the industrial sector, to help industry switch from high to
lower carbon fuels
- funding will be awarded through Small Business Research
Initiative (SBRI) contracts,
providing 100% funding for projects developing pre-commercial
solutions
There are 2 phases to the competition:
- Phase 1 – Feasibility: funding for feasibility studies into
fuel switch and fuel switch enabling solutions, with £50,000 to
£300,000 available per application
- Phase 2 – Demonstration: funding for projects to demonstrate
fuel switch and fuel switch enabling solutions, with £1 million
to £6 million available per project
- funding is divided into 3 Lots:
- fuel switch and fuel switch enabling technologies for
hydrogen
- fuel switch and fuel switch enabling technologies for
electrification
- fuel switch and fuel switch enabling technologies for
biomass, wastes, and other net zero compatible fuels
- Phase 2 (Demonstration Projects) is open to all applicants,
whether or not they took part in Phase 1
