Up to £1.5 million to fund concept and design studies for new, smarter approaches to local energy

Innovate UK as part of UK Research and Innovation will invest up to £1.5 million to fund revolutionary concept and design studies.

These approaches must aim to provide cleaner, cheaper energy services for UK consumers in the 2020s while helping make communities more prosperous and resilient.

Designs must combine new and existing energy technologies with:

·       smart systems

·       new market and regulatory solutions, such as for energy trading

·       consumer engagement

They must create scalable and replicable business models, ready for investment in the early 2020s.

Your concept and design study must describe ways to improve future energy services (heat, power and mobility) in one UK location that is at least the size of a medium-sized town or equivalent.

By the early 2020s implementation of your concept or design should aim to:

·       reduce energy bills by at least 25%

·       reduce greenhouse gas emissions below fifth carbon budget (2028 to 2032) levels

·       give a world-leading consumer experience

·       produce high value local jobs and UK supply chain opportunities

·       create export opportunities for UK businesses

·       improve energy security at short and long timescales (from millisecond through to annual)

·       help make the UK resilient to technological, environmental, social, economic and wider changes

·       improve efficiency across the whole energy system

·       meet air quality targets

·       improve infrastructure productivity

·       create ways to test and scale up new technologies, business, regulatory or consumer models, speeding up industry growth

To help support businesses with this competition there KTN have organised an Idea’s workshop on the 21st May in London, find out more about the workshop and how to register your interest here.