Funding for clean energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

A new competition has been launched to help countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia access secure, low-cost and low-carbon energy.

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are launching a competition to invest in innovation projects to encourage technology that will help countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia access secure, low-cost and low-carbon energy.

The aim of the competition is to support highly innovative, market-focused energy solutions in any technology or sector or international market.  To be in scope for this round your project must meet the needs of people, businesses and services in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.

Part of the funding is reserved for transformative bioenergy projects that help unlock lower-rated (between approximately 10kW and 5MW) productive-use bioenergy in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Proposals must also address all three elements of the energy ‘trilemma’:

• cost
• emissions
• security of supply and energy access

 

There are three options to apply into this competition.  These are referred to as strands and will be run in parallel.  The strands are dependent on the stage your project is at:

• early stage for feasibility studies
• mid-stage for industrial research
• late stage for experimental development

 

To be eligible for funding you must:

• be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
• apply as part of a collaboration with a UK organisation if you are based outside of the UK
• intend to exploit the results to help deliver clean energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia
• involve at least one SME (Small or Medium-sized Enterprise)

 

To be eligible for funding for mid and late stage, at least some of the research and development, testing or demonstration activities must be carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia. This can be done by either a UK or international partner.

KTN is running two events, one in Birmingham on 15 August (which has a webcast element for those unable to attend in person) and one in Manchester on 21 August.  There is an opportunity for those based overseas to pitch their capabilities & ideas remotely to the audience via Webex.