Innovate UK has up to £22 million to invest in
innovative, market-focused energy technologies for
sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, through
the Energy Catalyst
funding programme.
Round 7 of the Energy Catalyst will encourage the
development of products and services that help poorer
households and enterprises in the regions to access
secure, low cost and low carbon energy.
The Energy Catalyst is run by Innovate UK (part of UK
Research and Innovation) and co-funded by partners
including the Department for International Development
(DFID) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council. It is part of the Global
Challenges Research Fundand Transforming Energy
Access programme.
The ‘Energy Trilemma’
Successful projects will address the World Energy
Council’s ‘Energy Trilemma’:
- cost – reducing prices to make energy accessible to
everyone
- emissions – generating cleaner energy with lower
emissions to protect the environment
- security of supply – putting reliable
infrastructure in place to keep energy flowing without
disruption or shortage
Funding for different project stages
The competition offers 3 strands for projects in
different stages of development:
- early stage – for feasibility studies exploring an
idea’s technical potential
- mid-stage – funds research and development
- late stage – supports projects undertaking
prototyping and pilot testing
To apply for mid-stage or late-stage funding some of
the research, testing or demonstration must be carried
out in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia by either a UK
or international partner.
- the competition opens on 17 June 2019
- a briefing event will take place in London on 13
June 2019
- the competition closes on 18 September 2019
- early stage projects can have total costs of
£50,000 and £300,000, and last up to 12 months
- for mid stage projects, costs can be from £50,000
to £1.5 million, lasting 12 to 24 months
- for late stage projects, costs can be £50,000 to £5
million, lasting between 12 and 36 months
- projects must be led by a UK based business
- projects must start by 1 April 2020 and end by 31
March 2023
