BEIS: Industrial fuel switching to low carbon alternatives

Key Features

This is phase 2 of the 3 phase Industrial Fuel Switching competition to stimulate early investment in fuel switching processes and technologies.

Programme:     BEIS

Award:     Share of up to £3 million

Opens: 30th Nov 2018

Closes: 4th Feb 2019

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

The aim of the Industrial Fuel Switching Competition will be to identify and demonstrate solutions which will enable fuel switching in industry from fossil fuels to less carbon intensive fuels.

Scope

The specific objectives for the Competition are to:

  1. Demonstrate solutions to switch industrial processes to low carbon fuels that bring down costs, provide flexible and reliable solutions, and comply with safety regulatory standards/conditions without compromising air quality standards.
  2. Provide more detailed, robust data about the likely costs of switching industrial processes to low carbon fuels.
  3. Strengthen UK supply chains for fuel switching applications and deployment.
  4. Encourage collaboration between industrial partners, technology developers and academic or other supply chain partners, and help to involve supply chain partners in finding innovative solutions.

The Competition will be split into two lots for Phase 2.

Lot 1: Development of a specific fuel switching solution or associated technology.

This Lot is aimed at innovations in specific technologies which enable industrial processes to safely switch to low carbon fuels; the technologies in scope are not limited to the technologies used in converting the energy but include monitoring/ measurement and air quality abatement technologies (for those specifically in relation to fuel switching to biomass or hydrogen).

Lot 2: This Lot is aimed at projects which establish the viability of applying innovative approaches to switching an industrial site to low carbon fuels (either a single site, or a cluster of sites). Applicants to this lot will need to demonstrate that their approach either;

  1. uses technically proven fuel switching solutions, or
  2. aims to prove the technical feasibility of novel fuel switching solutions.

Applicants should explain their approach to fuel switching solutions across their chosen site or cluster of sites.

Eligibility 

  • Technologies must have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4 to 7.
  • All applications will have to meet the minimum assessment threshold (60%) to be funded.
  • Any UK site for industrial processes will be eligible.
  • Applications will be accepted from SME’s and large enterprises as sole applicants or as part of a consortium.
  • Academic, research, public, third sector or community organisations must work as part of a consortium with private sector organisations.

Funding Costs

  • Lot 1: £1.5 m allocated, up to £300,000 per project.
  • Lot 2: £1.5 m allocated, up to £300,000 per project.

Studies must be complete by July 2019.

The majority, over 50%, of the eligible project costs must be incurred in the UK.

Exclusion

Funding will not be provided for projects which use:

  • Biomethane
  • Synthetic methane
  • CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage)
  • Energy efficiency (including waste heat recovery)
  • Switching of feedstocks, (except where feedstock provides chemical energy to drive the process)

BEIS is unable to fund retrospective work on projects.

More Information

Please note, you must register to apply for this competition with BEIS by 5pm on 21st January 2019.

To find more information on this competition and application forms, please click here.