Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) Phase 3: Spring 2024

The Phase 3: Spring 2024 competition is open to businesses of any size with an eligible site in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Some IETF funding rules may differ for businesses based in Northern Ireland.

If your site is based in Scotland, please refer to the range of support offered by the Scottish Government. Contact SIETF@gov.scot for more information.

Your business must be in one of the following categories:

• Mining and quarrying
• Manufacturing
• Recovery and recycling of materials
• Data centre
• Industrial Laundries
• Controlled Environment Horticulture

See the application guidance for a full list of applicable SIC codes.

There are no limits on the number of proposals you can submit. You may also aggregate deployment project proposals to ensure that the total grant request exceeds the minimum grant thresholds.

Changes in IETF Phase 3 from previous phases include:

• sector scope has been expanded to include:
  • controlled environment horticulture activities
  • industrial laundries
  • textile renting facilities
• coal mining activities are no longer eligible for IETF funding
• companies registered in Scotland but with industrial sites in England, Wales or Northern Ireland are able to apply to the IETF, providing they meet other eligibility requirements
• the minimum grant threshold has been lowered from £100,000 to £75,000 for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) only, and the SME application process will be simplified
• deployment project applicants requesting a grant of £5 million or above must submit a feasibility study or engineering study to support their application

The government response to the recent IETF Phase 3 consultation provides more detail of changes to the IETF.

IETF Phase 3: Spring 2024 will allocate grant funding for the following project types:

• studies – feasibility studies (£30k-£7m per project) and engineering studies (£50k-£14m per project) to enable companies to investigate identified energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects prior to making an investment decision
• energy efficiency – deployment of technologies to reduce industrial energy consumption (£75k-£14m per project)
• decarbonisation – deployment of technologies to achieve industrial emissions savings (£75k-£30m per project)

The percentage of costs that can be covered by the IETF grant varies considerably depending on project type, business size, and location (the highest possible is 85%). Please consult the guidance notes for full details.

All successful proposals must start no later than 1st July 2025, and finish no later than 31st March 2028.

Funding will be allocated across three competition strands:

• Studies: feasibility and engineering studies to enable businesses to investigate identified energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects prior to making an investment decision
• Energy Efficiency: deployment of technologies to reduce industrial energy consumption
• Decarbonisation: deployment of technologies to achieve industrial emissions savings

Businesses are invited to bid into any one or more strands, provided their proposal or proposals is/are in scope of the competition’s objectives and meets/meet the eligibility criteria for each strand. Proposals must aim to improve the performance, emissions, and environmental outcomes of the industrial process beyond standards currently required by relevant UK and international law.

Full details of the scope for each strand can be found in the competition guidance.

If you need more information about Phase 3 of the IETF, including questions about the application process or portal, please contact the DESNZ IETF team at ietf@energysecurity.gov.uk.

Stakeholder events and clinics

We run events and clinics throughout the competition window to inform businesses about the scope of the competitions, eligibility criteria and the application process. These are also opportunities for you to speak to us directly about potential projects and applications for funding:

• view the recording, presentation slides and other resources from our IETF stakeholder briefing webinar held on Tuesday 6 February 2024
• register for our fortnightly IETF stakeholder clinics, Tuesday 13 February – Tuesday 16 April, 10.00 – 11.00

There will be 2 Phase 3 competition windows in 2024:

• Spring 2024, 29 January – 19 April
• Summer 2024, June / July – September

Click here for a list of frequently asked questions.

Additional resources:

• Case studies of Phase 1 and 2 competition winners
• listen to our IETF podcast series with DESNZ officials, competition winners, and industry experts
• watch our IETF winners videos to see projects funded by the IETF in Phases 1 and 2