Key Features
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £3 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop the impact validation of a demonstrated resource efficiency solution.
Programme: Innovate UK
Award: Share of up to £3 million
Opens: 14th Jul 2025
Closes: 27th Aug 2025
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), in collaboration with Innovate UK, will invest up to £3 million in this Contracts for Innovation competition.
This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.
The aim of this competition is to build on the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Unlocking Resource Efficiency research by supporting organisations to deliver an impact validation report for a resource efficiency solution.
This should be informed by a demonstration, which may be carried out as part of the project or otherwise conducted within the last five years.
The innovative resource efficiency solutions should address themes in one of the following strands:
You must select a single strand to apply for. If a project covers multiple strands, choose the one in which the majority of the work will be undertaken.
Innovate UK and DESNZ are collaborating with the chemicals, construction and automotive sectors to accelerate and increase the adoption of innovative resource efficient technologies, low carbon materials and circular business models. This is supporting the government’s commitment to transition the UK to a Net Zero, circular economy.
This competition will focus on the impact validation of resource efficiency solutions. This competition will support the development and delivery of high maturity demonstrations, and the validation of demonstrators from recent (within the last five years) research and development projects.
This competition will:
As a minimum, proposals into this competition must relate to solutions at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 or higher. If you have validated your solution at TRL5 (in a relevant environment.), your project should be to validate up to TRL7 (in an operational environment) and gather operational data to develop a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
If you have already validated at TRL7, your project should be to gather operational data to develop an LCA.
In both cases, the solution should still be a prototype or custom built system, not a full commercial version. You must show evidence of this, the testing and validation previously undertaken as part of your application and identify the TRL that you expect to be at start and end of the project.
This strand: Resource Efficient Automotive Impact
Innovate UK encourage you to focus on innovative solutions that will improve resource efficiency across the evolving value chain for on road electric vehicles. This may include passenger vehicles and light goods vehicles, HGVs, buses and coaches, where there is an active or potential future UK value chain.
Solutions should improve the resource efficiency of the sector and reduce life cycle emissions. Solutions must fall within one or more of the following themes:
You are encouraged to identify how your solution builds on the existing research and innovation landscape, for example referencing:
You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include an assessment of the commercial viability of your solution and a plan to commercialise your results. The specification report provides details of the commercial assessment that you must undertake as part of this project, and an initial assessment is required as part of your application.
Contracts will be given to successful applicants.
Demonstration
A key project deliverable, that must be included in your milestones, is a demonstration of the solution. The further validation of demonstrations and trials from recent research and development projects is also in scope, provided these meet the eligibility requirements for this competition. Costs for retrospective work cannot be claimed, only new analysis to validate the potential impact of the demonstrated technology.
The demonstration must take place in an environment representative of where the solution will be deployed, allowing for effective evaluation. As part of your project milestones, you are encouraged to invite stakeholders from your target sector to a demonstration event. The demonstration must take place in a setting where potential customers and industry representatives can witness the solution as a compelling business proposition.
If your own organisation does not have operations in the relevant sector, we expect you to include an integration supporter, for example, a trusted sector representative in your project to help facilitate the demonstration and trialling of your solution. In their role as potential future customers, they will be well placed to propose an appropriately representative environment.
You will be expected to collaborate with your integration supporter to achieve this, securing all necessary permissions and approvals.
Example environments include:
This list is not exhaustive, and other environments may be more appropriate to demonstrate certain types of solutions.
You should de-risk all aspects of your project before submitting a bid to this competition, ensuring it can be delivered in line with the requirements of DESNZ and Innovate UK.
Impact Validation Report
Projects must produce an impact validation report, informed by measuring and analysing data to evaluate the lifecycle impacts and commercial scale-up potential of the demonstrated resource efficiency solution. This should identify the solution’s potential to decarbonise the target sector and contribute to UK territorial carbon savings.
The impact validation report should compare baseline data related to the competition theme and outline the improvement from your solution using data from the demonstration or trial.
The collected data could include measurements of resources or time taken to complete a task, or the costs incurred before and after adoption of the technology. You might also include a survey of producers or customers to solicit feedback and to anticipate cost benefit. In all cases the collection of objective data where possible is preferred over the collection of subjective feedback.
Innovate UK expect you to consult with the sector and (or) your dedicated integration supporter to identify the appropriate impact indicators to track the relevant standards that apply within the sector.
The impact validation report is a key deliverable and must be included as part of your milestones. You can view the outline format of the validation report.
You must ensure that you have the required resources and skills to complete the report to a high standard.
The report will be shared with DESNZ in line with IUK and DESNZ data sharing policies. The report will need to be reviewed and approved by DESNZ, in line with standard claim timeframes before final payments are made.
Project leads will be required to partake in the scheme evaluation following project completion. Evaluation activities that projects might be invited to complete include interviews, surveys, or other forms of primary data collection. You are also expected to participate in at least one knowledge sharing event with the successful cohort of projects.
Portfolio approach
Innovate UK want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, strand, theme, technological maturities or location. Innovate UK call this a portfolio approach. The portfolio approach will take into account the range of themes covered, as well as hardware versus software solutions.
For applications in this Resource Efficient Automotive Impacts strand, your project can focus on one main themefor electric vehicles:
You must focus on one main theme but your project may cross over into other themes. This can be explained in further detail in Question 6 in the application questions section.
Projects must:
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:
Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.
If your own organisation does not have operations in the relevant sector, we expect you to include an integration supporter in your project to help facilitate the impact validation of your solution.
Demonstrations should be in a suitable industrial environment within the UK to enable the effective validation of the solution’s viability and impacts. We also welcome applications for solutions which have been demonstrated in a relevant sector in the UK within the last five years, but which have not yet reached commercial maturity and require further impact validation.
Your project could involve, for example:
Innovate UK recommend approaching potential integration supporters as early as possible during the application process or early stages of your project. This ensures your industry relationships are well established before delivering the project demonstration. Innovate UK we welcome projects that include innovative startups.
If your project is successful, we reserve the right to request letters of support from organisations named in your application.
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.
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.
Innovate UK will not fund projects that:
Up to £3 million, inclusive of VAT, is allocated to this competition across three sector strands. Contracts will be between £50,000 and £300,000, inclusive of VAT, for each project of between three and five months. Innovate UK expect to fund a minimum of three projects per strand and up to 30 projects across all three strands.
This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a contract.
Innovate UK reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.
The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:
The contract is completed at the end of the project, after which we would expect promising solutions to explore further commercialisation opportunities.
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. Innovate UK will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.
VAT registered
If you select you are 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 £300,000.
Not VAT registered
If you select you are not 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 £300,000.
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:
Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.
Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.
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