Organisations and research institutions are being invited to apply for a share of up to £41.5m for practical demonstrations of smart energy systems or to design new models.

The new business models need to intelligently link supply, storage and demand in heating, power and transport at scale.

The UK innovation agency, Innovate UK, is providing the funding in two parts. Up to £40m is available for three smart energy system demonstrators, while up to £1.5m is available for studies into new, smarter approaches to local energy.

The funding is part of the industrial strategy challenge fund programme, ‘prospering from the energy revolution’.

Demand to meet carbon reduction targets and the emergence of new technologies including artificial intelligence, internet of things and sensing and machine learning are creating new opportunities for smart energy systems.

This competition aims to help businesses to develop local energy approaches at scale that will create better outcomes for consumers and promote economic growth for the UK. The objective is to prove that smarter local energy systems can deliver cleaner and cheaper energy services by the early 2020s.

Innovate UK said successful projects will be supported by an energy integration network including the Energy Systems Catapult, leading researchers and government and independent regulatory bodies.

Demonstration projects must be based in a large UK location such as a medium-sized town and should:

• optimise energy across a range of supplies, infrastructure and demands
• deliver lower costs, lower emissions and economic benefit
• intelligently link energy supply and demand
• develop processes and skills for designing, financing, building and operating smart local energy systems
• encourage private investment to replicate these impacts across the UK.

Projects can be led by a business, university, public sector organisation or a research and technology organisation working with others. They must include at least one SME, one academic organisation and a local authority or equivalent organisation.

The competition is open, and the deadline for applications is at midday on 25 July 2018

If you like this, you might be interested in reading the following:

£30m funding available for low carbon projects

Previous APC-funded projects have yielded production-ready technology to OEMs and suppliers, including Ford and Nissan

Read more

The UK’s ‘greenest’ summer

National Grid has confirmed summer 2017 as greenest ever and launches what it claims is the world’s first green energy forecast tool

Read more

One-stop shop to tackle climate change

The social enterprise behind the site is trying to speed up the transition to a net zero carbon Britain

Read more