£40 million awarded to innovators paving the way for clean energy access in Africa, Asia, and the Indo-Pacific
Innovate UK’s Energy Catalyst programme, in which Energy 4 Impact is a delivery partner, has awarded over £40 million in grant funding to a fresh round of projects aiming to drive a just and inclusive energy transition with clean energy innovation.
The funding award was announced on 1 December 2023 by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as part of a £316m package of announcements unveiled at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai.
The £40m is part of the Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation, with this funding provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). It underscores the UK Government’s continued commitment to support the research development and demonstration of innovative technologies and business models necessary to foster affordable and clean energy for all.
This latest cohort of Energy Catalyst innovators have the potential to make a significant impact for communities across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Indo-Pacific region. At total of 64 pioneering projects with activities spanning 24 countries will work to advance innovation in areas including next generation solar, smart green-grids, hydrogen, clean cooling, and renewable-based alternatives to fossil fuel generators.
Projects to receive grant funding and business support include Achelous Energy, which will demonstrate a floating oceanic solar farm in Indonesia, and ion Venture’s project which will develop an automatic battery swapping cabinet to help scale e-mobility in Uganda.
Energy Catalyst will also support its first projects in Cambodia, Eswatini, Fiji, Malaysia and South Sudan. This includes SDG Changemakers, a project focusing on a feasibility study to increase access and affordability of clean energy on Fiji’s Kioa Island.
Alice Goodbrook, Energy Catalyst Lead at Innovate UK said:
We are proud to see Energy Catalyst scale effectively to meet this increasingly urgent challenge and we look forward to working collaboratively with all the innovators being supported through this latest round. The breadth of technologies and regions represented signifies a crucial step towards achieving a more sustainable and equitable future, extending the benefits of clean energy for all.
Energy Catalyst’s distinctive approach comprises three main elements; grant funding, collaboration building through brokerage activities to build partnerships, and acceleration support which is provided by a Carbon Trust-led consortium, including Mercy Corps-Energy 4 Impact, Intellecap, Open Capital, Eigen Ventures, and a range of specialist partners.
Details of all projects funded through Round 10 of Energy Catalyst can be found on the Energy Catalyst website.