10 November 2023: London, UK A £2 million funding competition has been launched to support the demonstration of innovations aimed at advancing renewable energy-based alternatives to fossil-fuelled generators in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Indo-Pacific regions.
The competition is the latest activity from the Zero Emission Generators (ZE-Gen) initiative, led by the Carbon Trust and Innovate UK with support from the IKEA Foundation and UK aid through the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund, via the Transforming Energy Access platform. Launched at COP27 with an initial commitment of over £15 million and an ambition to scale to £100 million, ZE-Gen is a collaborative, cross-sector initiative designed to tackle barriers, accelerate innovation and fund activities to build a thriving, competitive market for alternatives.
Entrenched dependence on fossil fuel generators carries huge financial, environmental and social cost and it is estimated that 25 million generators are deployed within developing economies1.
The primary aim of the ZE-Gen Demonstrator Competition is to evidence the capability, applicability, and scalability of integrated renewable alternatives to fossil fuel generators. Successful projects supported by the funding will play a crucial role in advancing renewable energy-based alternatives in countries that currently depend on fossil-fuelled generators. Additional funding for the ZE-Gen Demonstrator Competition is being provided by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development office (FCDO).
Organisations can apply for a share of £2 million pre-commercial procurement funding through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) which is designed to enable activities focused on the specific identified needs of the ZE-Gen Demonstrator Competition to receive 100% funding. Solutions should be scalable, capable of storing energy, affordable, reliable and low carbon, and can be targeted to commercial, domestic, public sector or humanitarian use cases.
For further details on how to apply, detailed eligibility criteria, and application guidelines, visit the SBRI Zero Emission Generators (ZE-Gen) Demonstrator Competition webpage.
1 IFC Dirty Footprint of the Broken Grid, The Dirty Footprint of the Broken Grid (ifc.org)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the ZE-Gen Demonstrator
The Demonstrator competition is open to applications from Monday, 6th November, closing at 11am UK time Wednesday, 13th December. Organisations of any size, and from anywhere in the world, are eligible to apply, and can operate alone or in collaboration with other entities, provided that projects are compliant with ODA funding requirements and are focused on sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or Indo-Pacific regions. The projects can focus on prototyping, demonstrating or field testing of innovations, and can range in size between £500,000 and £1 million, inclusive of VAT.
About Zero Emission Generators (ZE-Gen)
Zero Emission Generators (ZE-Gen) aims to advance renewable energy-based alternatives in countries that currently depend on fossil-fuelled generators. ZE-Gen is a collaborative effort led by The Carbon Trust and Innovate UK, with support from UK aid through the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund – via Transforming Energy Access platform (TEA) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), and support from IKEA Foundation.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. For more information, visit the UK Research and Innovation website. We drive productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK’s world-class research base.
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy driven by the mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future. We have been climate pioneers for over 20 years, partnering with businesses, governments and financial institutions to drive positive climate action. From strategic planning and target setting to activation and communication – we turn ambition into impact. To date, our 400 experts have helped set 200+ science-based targets and guided 3,000+ organisations and cities across five continents on their route to Net Zero.
About the Ayrton Fund
The UK Government announced the Ayrton Fund commitment of up to £1bn for clean energy innovation at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019. It is part of the total £11.6bn of UK International Climate Finance also announced over the period from 2021 to 2026. The vision of the Ayrton Fund is to help drive forward the clean energy transition in developing countries, by creating and demonstrating new technologies and business models to deploy them. It will demonstrate UK leadership and expertise in cutting global emissions through world-leading innovations. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) jointly manage the Ayrton Fund.