Innovation to drive affordable energy and clean growth under Industrial Strategy

• Research and innovation lead to new products, services, and more effective ways of doing business with a lower carbon impact
• to get every part of the UK firing on all cylinders we need to deliver an energy infrastructure system fit for the 21st century
• investment in innovation will help to commercialise our world-leading ideas and place UK companies at the forefront of developing low carbon growth solutions

The Industrial Strategy green paper highlighted the government’s commitment to minimise business energy costs and support the competitiveness of UK companies as we pursue our climate change targets in the most cost effective way.

Today Minister of State for Climate Change and Industry Nick Hurd attended the Rushlight Awards where he announced funding for a series of energy innovation projects. The funding boost of £28 million will be invested in smart systems, industrial energy reduction and offshore wind demonstrating our commitment to building a low carbon, low cost future. This forms part of the government’s commitment to double support for energy innovation, up to £400 million per year in 2021.

More details of the government’s Energy Innovation Programme and funding are available from the GOV.UK Energy Innovation page.

This financial support follows on the government’s vision to ensure the UK continues to be the global leader in science and research. The Industrial Strategy green paper identifies that we need to do more to commercialise the world-class ideas and discoveries made in Britain, and put the UK and British companies at the forefront of innovation.

Minister for Climate Change and Industry Nick Hurd said:

Innovation in energy will play an important role to shape our low carbon future to rebuild an outdated energy system. That’s why we’ve increased our financial support, helping to create jobs and opportunities for people across the UK.

Our Industrial Strategy green paper seeks views on how we can support these emerging technologies, ensuring we drive growth and develop international partnerships across our world leading research, science and innovation sector.

Under the new investment, up to £9 million will be spent on a competition to reduce the cost of energy storage, including electricity, thermal, and power-to-gas storage and up to £600,000 for feasibility studies for projects that can store energy on a large scale, for use when it’s needed.

Up to £7.6 million will be available for advancing energy demand side response technologies that can help both private and public sector organisations reduce energy use in peak times.

To reduce the cost of energy for industry, the government will invest around £9 million in a competition for ‘industrial energy efficiency accelerator’. The competition would help to find new ways of improving the energy efficiency of UK industry, helping to develop industry-specific options for a low carbon future.

Today’s announcement reaffirms our financial support to the sector after the investment of £2 billion a year by 2020-21 in research and development and £23 billion in high value investment through National Productivity Investment Fund was introduced at the Autumn Statement. The funds will address our key economic challenge of raising business productivity, helping to support business and research collaborations to explore opportunities to transform industries.