Highlights from the Global Alliance Africa Nigeria Energy Catalyst Competition Information Event

Nigeria, a country with over 200 million people represents the largest economy in Africa and was the leading oil producer as of 2021. According to the World Bank, about 85 million Nigerians do not have access to grid electricity. This represents about 43 percent of the population. In order to tackle the issue of energy poverty in Nigeria, Innovate UK KTN collaborated with other energy stakeholders in Nigeria to host the Energy Catalyst Round 10 Brokerage event in Abuja, Nigeria. Some of these partners include the Energy Transition team of the Vice President’s Office, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) and several others who were present at the event.

The Energy Catalyst event provided a platform for businesses, academia, government and development partners to interact and network. It aimed to help accelerate innovation needed to meet SDG goal 7 (“Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”) in Nigeria and Africa at large.

According to the Energy Transition lead, Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq,

Nigeria is confronted with a dual challenge of energy poverty and the real time impact of climate change. The duality of both of these issues is the reason why Nigeria’s president announced Nigeria’s aspiration to achieve Net Zero by 2060. Doing that by first achieving a universal access to energy by 2030.

The Energy Transition Plan outlines the pathways for Nigeria to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030 and Net Zero by building low cost carbon energy systems. 65% of emissions in Nigeria are related to energy consumption and industrial processes. Therefore the Energy Transition Plan focuses on 5 verticals including: Power, Clean cooking, Transportation, Industry and Oil and Gas.

With the robust Energy Transition Plan and the support from the UK Government through the Energy Catalyst fund, it is hoped that Nigerians and businesses have the potential to access cleaner, renewable, affordable and sustainable energy. Innovate UK KTN, through the Global Alliance Africa project, is currently exploring the opportunity to support Nigeria’s Energy Transition endeavour through the collaboration on the Energy Innovation Network in Nigeria.

Our Global Alliance Africa team hosted this briefing event on 16 March 2023 online and in-person in Abuja for potential applicants to understand if the Energy Catalyst Round 10 funding call opportunities are the right funding competition to meet their requirements, as well as information on how to apply.

While closing the event, Joshua Adedeji, Innovate UK KTN Knowledge Transfer Manager stated that:

Access to clean, sustainable and affordable energy in Nigeria will go a long way to accelerate innovation and prosperity for Nigerians. The Energy Catalyst funding therefore provide the opportunity for innovators to develop energy solutions to tackle one of the countries biggest challenges.

Overall, there is significant potential for renewable energy development in Nigeria and initiatives are being put in place to encourage its growth.

About Innovate UK’s Energy Catalyst Fund

The Innovate UK Energy Catalyst Round 10 Funding Competition is a funding opportunity for UK-based companies and research organisations that are working on innovative energy projects. The competition is run by the UK government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, and is designed to support the development of new technologies and business models that can help to address the world’s energy challenges.

The competition is open to projects that are focused on the following themes:

1. Energy access
2. Energy storage and distribution
3. Clean growth

Applications are judged on several criteria, such as the potential impact of the project, the technical and commercial viability of the proposed solution, and the capability of the team. Successful applicants receive funding to develop their projects, with the amount of funding depending on the stage of development and the size of the project.

The goal of the Energy Catalyst Round 10 is to support the development of innovative energy technologies and solutions that can help to address global energy challenges and create new business opportunities for UK-based companies.

Energy Catalyst Round 10 funding is now open with a deadline of 28th June 2023. To be in scope for Energy Catalyst round 10 your project must address both energy access and clean energy. Click here for full information about the funding opportunity.

You can also register for B2B Match virtual brokerage to find partners for your Innovate UK Energy Catalyst Round 10 application: https://energy-catalyst-networking.b2match.io/

About Global Alliance Africa

The Global Alliance Africa project is a six-year project funded by UK Aid through Innovate UK (GCRF) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

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