The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has revealed details of a £35 million Energy Entrepreneur Fund, designed to support innovative SMEs that come up with new low carbon solutions.
Just prior to hosting the first of two days of international talks on clean energy in London, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Edward Davey said: “Part of the way that we're going to tackle climate change and get clean energy is through innovation, particularly with SMEs. We’re allocating a fund of thirty-five million pounds which will help innovators and entrepreneurs develop and demonstrate low carbon technologies.
“The first wave is going to be in energy efficiency in buildings, things like advanced lighting, heat pumps, ventilation technologies and so on. This is a practical way that we can make sure we get to the low carbon economy.”
The fund’s budget of up to £35 million will be available over the next three years, with SMEs able to apply for up to £1 million in support. Of the £35 million, £20 million, from DECC’s Buildings Innovation Programme, will initially support energy efficiency technologies. The department plans for £15 million to expand the call into power generation at a later stage.
DECC will announce further details on the fund and the application process by the summer.
DECC has also announced details of a competition run in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board. The £3 million competition will assess the performance of advanced heat storage technologies that are capable of integrating with domestic heating systems. The competition is being run as part of DECC’s Buildings Innovation Programme and aims to assess the viability and benefits of compact heat storage materials which can be installed in homes to even out peak electricity demand from low carbon heat technologies.
