Businesses in UK offered £3m to boost local grid efficiency

Businesses in the UK are being invited to apply for a share of £3 million to develop technology components that can help improve the efficiency of local energy systems.
 
They should deliver cleaner, cheaper energy services and create more resilient communities across the UK.
 
Areas supported could include applications for monitoring gas and electricity hardware and software; improving integration between local and national power networks; and markets and improving efficiency of heat networks.
 
Funding could also be provided for the optimisation of generation in real time across many sites, operators and aggregators; heating and cold storage, especially inter-seasonal; and optimising the coupling of electricity, heat and transport.
 
Projects must be collaborative unless led by a micro, small or medium sized business (SME); include at least one SME if led by a larger business; and start by April 2020 and end by March 2022.
 
Funding provided per project can range between £100,000 to £500,000.
 
The competition, run by Innovate UK, opens on 22nd July and the deadline for applications is 9th October 2019.
 
Centrica is trialling a Local Energy Market in Cornwall, testing the use of flexible demand, generation and storage across both the domestic and business sectors.

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