Sector - Energy, Fuel & Utilities

Competition opens for smart local energy funding

7 May 19

A share of £30million will be awarded to winning smart local energy projects in the UK to develop designs.

UK organisations can apply for a share of up to £30 million to develop designs for smart local energy systems that make the best use of innovative technologies including cheaper renewables, energy storage, low carbon heat and digital infrastructure. The funding comes from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to encourage industry, academia, public bodies and local communities to collaborate on energy systems.

Projects are expected to:

develop novel market and business approaches for smart energy systems
integrate new energy technologies across heat, power and transport in replicable and scalable ways across the UK
investigate and design approaches that will significantly lower energy system costs and emissions
create economic benefits for the local area and the UK as a whole
develop finance and investment models for the deployment of low carbon technologies at scale.

Claire Perry, Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, said: “We are at the start of a smart energy revolution, which will see technology like energy storage, smart appliances and electric vehicles become part of the fabric of everyday life.”

“A future built on digital, data-driven smart systems will transform the way society interacts with the grid – delivering cheaper, greener and more flexible access to energy for everyone. This competition will help to give the UK’s makers and innovators the tools to make this vision a reality and seize on the business opportunities ahead.”

The competition will open on 7 May 2019, and close at midday on 7 August 2019 and organisations of any size are eligible to apply. Projects will create a new market and business models using smart energy systems that enable deployment at scale of the latest in energy technologies across heat, power and transport, in a way that is reproducible across the UK.