Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, has teamed up with energy and services firm ENGIE to support projects working on the transition to clean energy.The £4 million competition will fund innovative projects that decarbonise, digitise and decentralise (find ways to generate power off the main grid) energy, and help achieve a sustainable transition to cleaner energy.Successful projects will receive a combination of government grants from Innovate UK, and private investment from ENGIE. For the first time in an Innovate UK programme, the private funding will be from overseas.The competition aims to allow organisations to form investment partnerships at an early stage. To do this, ENGIE and Innovate UK are bringing together:Innovate UK’s expertise in identifying promising innovations and using funding to materially change their risk profileENGIE’s expertise in identifying commercial and customer focused opportunities that are most likely to grow and make the best use of extra investment financeBest of British ideasIan Meikle, Director, Clean Growth and Infrastructure at Innovate UK, said:We are seeking the very best of British ideas in clean growth innovation. By teaming up with ENGIE we can multiply our funding and do even more to grow the industries, businesses and jobs of tomorrow by bringing in the private sector at an earlier stage through this investment accelerator programme.Nicola Lovett, CEO of ENGIE UK & Ireland, added:We are delighted to be working with both Innovate UK and ENGIE’s Paris-based New Ventures team to directly assist innovative UK companies in the clean growth sector – in areas such as renewables, energy services and e-mobility. This initiative also supports our own ambition to be a leader in making zero-carbon transition possible for businesses and local authorities.Competition informationThe Clean Growth Innovation Fund is an invitation-only programme for UK businesses to apply for a share of up to £4 million for innovative projects. Successful applicants will receive a combination of grant and investment to cover project costs. the first round of this competition opens Monday 10 June 2019 the first round closes 12:00 on Wednesday 14 August 2019 this competition is offering grant funding to lead a project, you must be a UK-based small or medium-sized business total eligible project costs must be between £100,000 and £1.2 million. We may consider funding 1 project over the life of the programme of £1.5 millionFind out more about the competition by clicking here.
