Energy Catalyst Round 10: Early Stage

The aim of this competition is to accelerate the innovations needed to create new or improved clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or the Indo-Pacific region. Creating a just and inclusive energy transition and extending the benefits of clean energy to all to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7 ‘end energy poverty’ and 13 ‘climate action’.

To be in scope for Energy Catalyst round 10 your project must address both energy access and clean energy.

1. Energy access: Your project must aim to speed up access to affordable, clean energy services for poor households, enterprises and social institutions in official development assistance (ODA) eligible countries in sub-Saharan -Africa, the Indo-Pacific region, or South Asia. It must do this by supporting the development, testing or scale up of innovative technologies or business models.
A clear social or economic benefit in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or the Indo-Pacific Region is required.
This can include: creating new energy access in unserved regions, improving existing access to provide a more reliable service.

2. Clean Energy: Your technology or business model must create clean energy which is: affordable, reliable and low carbon.
While any technology which meets the above criteria is in scope, priority will be given to the following Ayrton Challenge priority areas:

• next generation solar technologies and business models: enabling new, locally manufacturable, cost effective alternatives
• smart green grids: including mini and main grid related technologies
• energy storage: enabling higher intermittent renewable energy penetrations on the grid, and improving access in areas unserved, or poorly served, by the grid
• green hydrogen: developing relevant technologies and value chains to bring forward zero carbon hydrogen fuels
• modern cooking: unlocking the transition from biomass to genuinely clean cooking, delivering major health and environmental benefits
• low energy inclusive appliances: improving the efficiency, performance, availability, and affordability of end use domestic and productive appliances adapted to developing country needs
• leave no one behind, specifically technologies and business models: ensuring the benefits of the clean energy revolution reach the poorest and most marginalised, including women, those with disabilities, people in humanitarian contexts, and those accessing healthcare in unelectrified clinics
• sustainable cooling: to help meet growing global cooling demand in a warming world, in a sustainable way

Innovate UK and The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), have allocated funding for projects specifically aimed at replacing diesel and petrol generators with sustainable alternatives, ideally integrating several of the technologies above.

Over 50% of your project must focus on energy access and energy innovation to be in scope. This is determined from your project costing and work packages.