Innovate UK-funded Grants for Net Zero Propulsion Innovative Projects: Call for UK Businesses

Deadline: 7-Dec-22

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £10 million for net zero propulsion innovative projects. This funding is from Innovate UK.

As part of the Future Economy Net Zero programme, this competition will focus on net zero propulsion. This programme will support the government’s drive for zero emission transport and systems as part of the net zero commitment for 2050.

The aim of this competition, as part of the Innovate UK funded net zero mobility programme, is to support future propulsion technologies for the transport sector.

The programme aims to build on previous sector specific mobility programmes by creating a cross-sector platform. You are encouraged to apply your knowledge and capability to adjacent transport sectors including automotive, aerospace, maritime and rail.

Specific Themes

• Your project must advance technologies in one or more of the following areas:
  • Electric propulsion technologies
  • Fuel cells for electric propulsion
  • PEMD (power electronics machines and drives) systems for electrified powertrains for vehicles, locomotives or vessels
  • Energy storage technologies (excluding batteries) and energy management software and controls
  • Integration (system or component level) of electric propulsion technologies
  • Range extenders that are zero emission and do not emit greenhouse gases, this can include on vehicle energy generation
  • On platform fuel storage, including hydrogen tanks
  • Hydrogen internal combustion engine technologies, with restricted use on certain applications such as non-road applications
  • Energy efficient electrification for traction and non-traction rail vehicles, and bi-mode locomotives (hydrogen and battery powered)
  • Wind propulsion, including soft-sail, fixed-sail, rotor, kite and turbine technologies.

Funding Information

• Your project’s total costs must be between £250,000 and £1.5 million.

Eligible Projects

• Your project must focus on one or more of the following transport sectors:
  • Maritime: Clean maritime technologies for all sizes and categories of maritime vessel are in scope. Solutions can be suitable for one target size of vessel or multiple. Leisure and commercial vessels are in scope.
  • Rail: Technologies can target all locomotive classes including those for freight and passenger carrying services and carriages.
  • Automotive: Technologies can cover both niche and mainstream on and off-road vehicles. This includes categories L (mopeds and motorcycles only), M (car and passenger carrying) and N (goods vehicles). Construction vehicles and special use vehicles such as emergency vehicles (for example, ambulances and fire engines), refuse collection vehicles, and recreational vehicles (for example, motorhomes) are also eligible. There are restrictions on the use of hydrogen combustion.
  • Aerospace: Technologies for drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), advanced air mobility (AAM), electric or hybrid passenger aircraft.
• Your project must address one or more of the following:
  • Improved range and overall system performance capability
  • Decreased total cost of ownership
  • Adoption of and transition to zero emission end products
  • Strengthening of the UK supply chain
• Your proposal must demonstrate a need by including an end customer such as Tier 1 or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) within your consortium. They can be a funded partner or non-funded project adviser.

Eligibility Criteria

• Your project must:
  • Have total costs between £250,000 and £1.5 million
  • Have a maximum project duration of 18 months
  • Start by 1 August 2023
  • Claim the grant funding by 31 March 2025
  • Carry out all of its project work in the UK
  • Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.
• Lead Organisation
  • To lead a project your organisation must:
    • Be a UK registered business of any size
    • Collaborate with other UK registered organisations, academic institutions, research and technology organisations, charity, not for profit or public sector organisation
    • Be or involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
    • Academic institutions, research and technology organisations, charities, not for profit organisations and public sector organisations cannot lead a project.
• Project Team
  • To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
    • Business of any size
    • Academic institution
    • Charity
    • Not for profit
    • Public sector organisation
    • Research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once accepted, partners will be asked to login or to create an account and enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.

For more information, visit https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1337/overview/e95bd0c9-9cac-4b9f-aec3-f1f6594b43e7