Decarbonisation of industrial clusters: roadmaps

Overview

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is seeking to invest up to £1 million, split across 2 competition strands, to support collaborative projects to plan their route to cluster decarbonisation as part of the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge Fund.

This is the first phase of a 2-phase competition.

In phase 1 you must develop a plan setting out your proposed approach to phase 2.

In phase 2 up to £8 million will be awarded for the development of industrial cluster decarbonisation roadmaps for major UK industrial clusters.

These must set out how a cluster could be decarbonised to net-zero levels, in line with the Industrial Clusters Mission.

Phase 2 is dependent on the success of phase 1. Only successful applicants from phase 1 will be invited to take part in phase 2.

Scope

Your proposal must explain how in phase 1 you will develop a plan setting out your proposed approach to phase 2.

This phase 1 proposal must:

• demonstrate how you will develop and apply the systems thinking, capability, tools and evidence required to identify and assess technical, economic, environmental and social needs and impacts in your cluster decarbonisation roadmap
• demonstrate how you will work with a variety of industries and stakeholders across the cluster
• demonstrate how you will develop methodologies to assess, and evidence on, the feasibility, costs, benefits, requirements and risks of different 2030 decarbonisation and 2040 net-zero options for UK industrial clusters
• demonstrate how you will allow for the importance of replicable solutions
• demonstrate how you will consider wider cross-economy decarbonisation choices and scenarios as part of your roadmap

Innovate UK are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of industrial cluster locations, organisations, and approaches.

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding solutions that do not align with the ISCF Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge programme objectives or BEIS Industrial Clusters mission.

Eligibility

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size, a research organisation, public sector organisation, charity or academic institution
• carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results in at least one UK industrial cluster

To collaborate with the lead organisation your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size, a research organisation, public sector organisation, charity or academic institution
• carry out its project work in the UK
• be invited to take part by the lead applicant to submit your project costs into the Innovation Funding Service

The lead organisation and one or more other organisations must claim funding.

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.

Funding Costs

Up to £1 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in phase 1 of this competition across both strands.

Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £40,000 and £120,000.

Innovate UK encourage you to collaborate with other organisations. Your organisation can apply alone, but must demonstrate how it will collaborate within a cluster.

They want projects to start as soon as possible and can last between 3 and 4 months, however, projects are required to finish no later than 31 July 2020.

Organisations that are primarily engaged in commercial/economic activity (i.e. selective advantage) as part of the project must ensure their request for funding does not exceed the limits defined below. This is inclusive of organisations that typically act non-economically but for the purpose of this project with be undertaking commercial/economic activity.

These projects are categorised as feasibility study projects, therefore you could receive funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small business
• up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business
• up to 50% if you are a large business

The academic, research and public sector organisations in your consortium can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research or public sector organisation, this maximum is shared between them.