Contracts for Innovation: Local Partnerships Clean Energy Demonstrators

Key Features

Organisations can apply for a share of up to £5 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop innovative clean energy technologies through leveraging local partnerships in a specified ODA eligible country.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £5 million

Opens: 12th Mar 2025

Closes: 30th Apr 2025

Overview

This is a Contracts for Innovation competition funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Scope

The aim of this competition is to accelerate the innovations needed to create new or improved clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region or South and Central America.

To create a just and inclusive energy transition by integrating gender equality, disability and social inclusion to ensure we are extending the benefits of clean energy to all to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7 and 13.

This funding is part of the Ayrton Fund. The activities supported by the project must be complete by 31 March 2027.

This is to contribute to:

  • developing an innovative product, process, or service
  • an inclusive and clean energy transition
  • extend the benefits of clean energy to all
  • meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13
  • a just transition to ensure gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI)

These goals are:

Sustainable Development Goal 7:

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Sustainable Development Goal 13:

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

A key aspect of this competition is to leverage local partnerships with organisations in the focus ODA eligible country.

Your project must:

  • clearly leverage local partnerships with organisations in the focus ODA eligible country
  • contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13
  • improve energy access in one of the specified ODA eligible countries
  • develop a technology or business model which is innovative, affordable, reliable and low carbon
  • involve demonstrating or field testing of your innovation in one of the specified ODA eligible countries for a minimum of three continuous months, with in-country users in real life operating conditions
  • contribute to the reduction or mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions
  • ensure the ODA eligible country is the primary beneficiary of the innovation
  • be compliant with ODA funding
  • demonstrate impact to either local communities or local organisations
  • utilise existing and local supply chains if available and where reasonable
  • Incorporate end of life planning into the development of your innovation
  • contribute to a just transition, ensuring gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI)
  • clearly demonstrate a social or economic benefit to your focus country

Your project must focus one or more of the following eligible countries:

  • Colombia
  • India
  • Mexico
  • South Africa
  • Brazil
  • Indonesia
  • Nigeria
  • Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
  • Bangladesh
  • Ethiopia
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
  • Philippines
  • Kenya
  • Egypt
  • Malaysia
  • Pakistan
  • Vietnam
  • Cambodia
  • Kazakhstan
  • Madagascar
  • Angola
  • Turkey
  • Uganda
  • Peru
  • Zambia
  • Morocco
  • Mongolia
  • Argentina

While projects can focus on any of the above ODA eligible countries, we are particularly keen to receive projects which focus on Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, DRC, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Innovate UK will not be supporting any projects operating in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) red zones.

Your project must also utilise existing local supply chains if available, and where reasonable. For example, if there is a local supplier of a particular component, and it’s at a reasonable price, we would expect them to be the supplier used for the project. If the cost is significantly lower, the use of the supplier would need to be justified for the cost and shipping of parts from other countries.

You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include a plan to commercialise your results.

Contracts will be given to successful applicants.

Specific Themes

Your innovative technology or business model must create access to clean energy which is:

  • affordable
  • reliable
  • low carbon

Your project must focus on one of the following Ayrton Challenge Areas:

  • sustainable cooling for all: help to meet a growing global off and weak grid demand for cooling access, in a warming world, in a sustainable and economically viable way
  • energy efficiency: improve the efficiency, performance, availability, and affordability of a range of appliances for some of the worlds’ poorest people
  • energy storage: sustainable and affordable energy storage, including batteries, for distributed renewable energy usage in stationary and mobile applications
  • smart energy systems: accelerate a series of related technologies which enable more efficient and effective network delivery of energy
  • industrial decarbonisation: support industrial decarbonisation technology innovation in developing countries to accelerate the pilot-testing of innovative clean technologies towards commercialisation
  • clean hydrogen: diversification from Diesel Gen sets and fossil fuel choices, particularly to support next generation solar mini grids
  • critical minerals: address critical minerals as a key enabler in clean energy transitions and the high political or commercial interest on supply chain sustainability for clean energy technologies
  • clean transport: accelerate the uptake of clean transport technologies to reduce emissions and pollution and enable inclusive and resilient economic growth in developing countries
  • inclusive energy and leave no one behind: ensure that the benefits of the clean energy revolution reach the poorest and most marginalised, for example, women, people with disabilities, refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), healthcare patients in unelectrified clinics

Research Categories

Demonstration, development and field testing

This can include demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real life operating conditions. The primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set.

Eligibility

Projects must:

  • start on 1 July 2025
  • end by 31 March 2027
  • last between 12 months and 21 months
  • have total costs of between £500,000 and £1.5 million, inclusive of VAT
  • involve demonstrating or field testing of your innovation in an ODA eligible country for a minimum of three months duration, with in-country users in real life operating conditions
  • clearly demonstrate local partnerships, for example, with subcontractors who are based in the focus ODA eligible country
  • ensure the ODA eligible country is the primary beneficiary of the innovation
  • be compliant with ODA funding

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Contract has been approved by Innovate UK.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

Applicant

To lead a project, you can:

  • be an organisation of any size
  • work alone or with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Innovate UK will not fund projects where the supplier or a subcontractor is listed as excluded on the Debarment List.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund projects that:

  • are not original in scope and duplicates someone else’s work
  • are covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed solutions
  • do not address clean energy requirements
  • do not have a beneficial impact in an ODA eligible country
  • do not harness local partnerships in an ODA eligible country
  • do not utilise local supply chains where available and reasonable
  • are not Official Development Assistance (ODA) compliant
  • do not take into account and plan to manage gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI)
  • are not able to be tested with users in real life operating conditions

Funding Costs

A total of up to £5 million, inclusive of VAT, is allocated to this competition.

The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:

  • adjust the provisional funding allocations
  • apply a ‘portfolio’ approach

The contract is completed at the end of the competition, and the successful organisation is expected to pursue commercialisation of their solution.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.

VAT registered

If you select you are UK VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £1.5 million.

Not VAT registered

If you select you are not UK VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £1.5 million.

Research and development (R&D)

Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service. This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.

R&D does not include:

  • commercial development activities such as quantity production
  • supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs
  • integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes

Subsidy Control

Contracts for Innovation competitions involve procurement of R&D services at a fair market value and are not subject to subsidy control criteria that typically apply to grant funding.