UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) today has issued a call for innovators and entrepreneurs to present smart new energy ideas which have the potential to win a share of a £30 million fund. This will help kickstart an industry to be worth billions of pounds by the early 2020s, supporting tens of thousands of new high-value jobs.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry said: “We are at the start of a smart energy revolution, which will see technology like energy storage, smart appliances and electric vehicles become part of the fabric of everyday life. A future built on digital, data-driven smart systems will transform the way society interacts with the grid – delivering cheaper, greener and more flexible access to energy for everyone.

“This competition will help to give the UK’s makers and innovators the tools to make this vision a reality, and seize on the business opportunities ahead.”

Rob Saunders, challenge director, Prospering from the Energy Revolution, UKRI said: “Smart local energy systems can intelligently link supply, storage and use of power, heat and transport in new ways that dramatically improve efficiency and work better for people.  This competition will seek the very best ideas in British innovation to show how the energy sector of the future will be cleaner and greener and support the jobs and industries of the future.”

The “Prospering from the Energy Revolution” Challenge Fund will support industry, academia, public bodies, and local communities to develop a world-leading, smart local energy systems industry in the UK. Detailed designs for smart, local energy systems will support energy system solutions that make the best use of cheaper renewables, energy storage, ultra-low emmission vehicles, energy efficiency, low carbon heat and digital infrastructure amongst other technologies.

Projects are expected to demonstrate novel market and business model approaches using smart energy systems. These approaches should integrate new energy technologies across heat, power and transport in a way that is replicable and scalable across the UK.

A case study of a previously-funded PfER project, BankEnergi can be found here: https://www.ukri.org/innovation/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund/prospering-from-the-energy-revolution/bankenergi-creating-a-local-energy-economy-in-londons-south-bank/

  • Find out more about this competition and submit an expression of interest here.