The UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, is offering GBP20 million (≈ EUR 21.96 million) of UK aid funding to develop and demonstrate innovative solutions for "clean, affordable, and secure" energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or South-East Asia.
The competition, Energy Catalyst round 8 – which is now open and runs until September 16, 2020 – seeks to encourage the development of products and services that help countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, South East Asia or multiple regions access secure, low cost and low carbon energy.
They must be targeted at people, public services, and local enterprises who are unable to afford or access existing solutions, or who lack the time or expertise to successfully use those solutions.
The Energy Catalyst’s mission is to accelerate the innovation needed to end energy poverty. By providing financial and advisory support to innovators, strategic partnerships are created that uncover insights and develop business models to improve lives in Africa and Asia. The challenges of energy poverty include:
- over 1 billion people do not have access to electricity
- over 3 billion people rely on solid fuels and kerosene for cooking and heating
- grid-based systems face economic and governance barriers
- the vast majority (80 percent) of those gaining access to electricity worldwide are in urban areas
Funding is available through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). To be eligible projects must address:
- energy access needs of sub-Saharan Africa/South and South-East Asia
- all three areas of the ‘Energy trilemma’ – cost, emissions, and security of supply/energy access
- gender equality and social inclusion
The competition is also co-funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). Up to GBP3 million (≈ EUR 3.29 million) will be prioritised for projects specifically for energy storage. DfID is also particularly interested in supporting projects in the areas of:
- modern cooking
- sustainable cooling
- next-generation solar
- efficient and productive appliances
- technologies and business models that help leave no-one behind
Countries in scope in Sub-Saharan Africa include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini (Swaziland), Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Countries in scope in South and South-East Asia include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
As we recover from coronavirus, it is vital that we prioritise changing our relationship with the planet for good. Finding innovative and affordable ways to help people use clean energy will make a real difference in this mission. As COP26 President, the UK will be bringing countries together to take action on climate change, including by committing to greener energy sources, said Lord Goldsmith, International Environment Minister.
The previous seven rounds of the Energy Catalyst has seen a commitment of GBP140 million (≈ EUR 153.73 million) funding – with an additional GBP60 million (≈ EUR 65.87 million) of co-funding and GBP75 million (≈ EUR 82.34 million) private funding– of 345 projects with 1 040 partners of which 113 have been non-UK based.
