There are two parts to the competition. £40 million is available for three smart energy system demonstrators, while up to £1.5 million is available for studies into new, smarter approaches to local energy. The funding is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme, prospering from the energy revolution. The competition will help businesses to develop local energy approaches at scale that will create better outcomes for consumers and promote economic growth for the UK. By the early 2020s, it aims to prove that smarter local energy systems can deliver cleaner and cheaper energy services.
Successful projects will be supported by an energy integration network including the Energy Systems Catapult leading researchers and government and independent regulatory bodies.
Demonstrator projects must be based in a large UK location such as a medium-sized town. The projects should satisfy a range of criteria including optimisation of energy across a range of supplies, infrastructure and demands, delivery of lower costs, emissions and delivery of economic benefits and developing processes and skills for designing, financing, building and operating smart local energy systems.
The competition is open, and the deadline for applications is at midday on 25 July 2018. Projects can be led by a business, university, public sector organisation or a research and technology organisation working with others. They must include at least one SME, one academic organisation and a local authority or equivalent organisation. Ninety percent of the project work has to be carried out in the UK and the results exploited within the country.
Grant funding for each project is expected to be £13 million or higher, with total project costs between £26 million and £160 million. The projects should last between 24 and 26 months. A briefing event will be held on 15 May 2018
Studies into new smart, energy systems should show how they could improve future energy services in a UK location at least the size of a medium-sized town. They should show how implementation by the early 2020s could reduce energy bills by at least 25 percent and reduce carbon emissions in line with targets, produce high-value local jobs and local and export business opportunities, improve energy security and make the UK more resilient to environmental, technological, social and economic change, improve energy efficiency and infrastructure productivity, meet air quality targets and create ways to test and scale new technologies and business, consumer and regulatory models to speed up industry growth.
The best projects will be invited to develop their ideas further in a future competition.
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