UK aid funding available for innovative energy projects

LONDON, Jul 24 (APP):The United Kingdom (UK’s innovation agency), Innovate UK,
is offering £20m 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. A UK government statement issued here on Friday said that  the competition, Energy Catalyst round 8 – which is open now and  runs until September 16th – 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 statement said. It added that the Energy Catalyst’s mission was to accelerate  the innovation needed to end energy poverty.  By providing financial and advisory support to innovators  we help create strategic partnerships, uncover insights and
develop business models to improve lives in Africa and Asia, the  statement said.
It further said that 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 vast  majority (80%) of those gaining access to electricity worldwide  were in urban areas Funding is available through Global Challenges  Research Fund (GCRF).

To be eligible projects must address:energy access needs of sub-Saharan Africa / South and South-East Asia all 3 areas of the ‘Energy trilemma’ – cost, emissions, and security of supply / energy access gender equality and social inclusion, the statement said. It further said that the competition was also co-funded  by the UK’s Department for International Development (Dfid). Up to £3  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 appliancest echnologies and business models that help leave no-one behind,the statement said. UK International Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith said: “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” Lord Goldsmith remarked. According to the UK government statement, the previous seven  rounds of the Energy Catalyst has seen a commitment of £140m funding – with an additional £60m of co-funding and £75m private funding– of  345 projects with 1,040 partners of which 113 have been non-UK based.

It said that that the Countries in scope Sub-Saharan Africa: are  Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon,  Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire,  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, Zimbabwe While the other countries in scope in South and South East Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam,the statement said.