Funding

The £26m Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Funding programme is now open for applications. 

Details can be found here, including the Competition Guidance for both streams:

• IHA Stream 1 demonstration grant of up to £10m per project is open for applications until 14:00 BST, 21 July 2022.
• IHA Stream 2A feasibility study SBRI funding of up to £400k per project is open for applications until 14:00 BST, 23 June 2022.

A Launch and Networking event is taking place on Monday 9th May 10-12. BEIS will provide an overview of the competition and attendees will have the chance to meet and network with other prospective applicants. This is the link to sign up here.

If you would like to network with other stakeholders interested in applying to the IHA competition and are looking for collaborators, here is the link to the B2Match IHA networking platform, which already has over 150 participants: https://industrial-hydrogen-accelerator.b2match.io/.

On Friday 8th April, BEIS confirmed its intention to proceed with the £26m BEIS Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator (IHA) innovation programme. We anticipate that the competition will open for applications week commencing 25^th April 2022. The IHA is an innovation funding programme to support the demonstration of end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen. It aims to prove the feasibility and reduce the costs and risks of hydrogen fuel switching systems. The scope would include the full technology chain, from hydrogen generation and delivery infrastructure through to industrial end-use, including the integration of the components in a single project. To find out more about the demonstration grant of up to £10m per project for Stream 1 and the feasibility study SBRI funding of up to £400k per project for Stream 2A, visit the competition webpage.  Here you can fill in the Expression of Interest form to be kept up to date with the competition’s developments and future networking events.

A Launch and Networking event is taking place on Monday 9th May 10-12. BEIS will provide an overview of the competition and attendees will have the chance to meet and network with other prospective applicants. Sign up here.

A new round of the COVID Recovery Challenge Fund has been announced, to fund projects that can deliver new and innovative solutions in relation to the recovery of the Welsh food and drink processing and manufacturing sector which has been adversely affected by the pandemic.

The Fund has a budget of £5m, with a minimum grant of 150k and a maximum of 500k. Applicants will need to register on Sell2Wales to access the scheme documents and apply here.

Key Dates:

• Deadline for applications                         26 April 2022, 17:00
• Notification of application outcome           w/c 9 May 2022
• Projects commence from                         16 May 2022
• Conclusion of project activity                   31 May 2023
• Deadline for final financial claims             30 June 2023

Application Guidance:

• Projects must demonstrate a response to the recovery of Welsh Food and Drink processing and manufacturing sector in relation to impact of Covid 19.
• Projects MUST clearly address one or more of the 11 Priority Actions identified in the Food and Drink Wales Covid-19 Recovery Plan. A copy of the plan can be viewed here.
• The Challenge Fund is seeking forward-looking and innovative projects that may introduce new ways of working and new models of delivery. The potential knowledge sharing, scalability and continuation of projects beyond the 12 months of support will be key considerations within the assessment criteria.
• All projects are expected to be collaborative in nature. Key outcomes and deliverables must demonstrate clear benefit to the development and sustainable growth of the Welsh food and drink sector as a whole, rather than principally benefitting individual businesses and organisations.
• Collaborative projects, those that involve partners, demonstrate clear and substantial links to innovation, technical expertise, efficiencies, food supply chains and markets associated with food and drink manufacturing and processing are likely to score higher.
• Projects must comply with the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, and project delivery and all materials will need to be available bi-lingually.

To find out more about the £60 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund Phase 2: Spring 2022 competition, view the applicant guidance and make an application for funding, please visit the BEIS competition page.  You can also register for a webinar on Tuesday 1^st March to explain the IETF application process in detail and also give a demonstration of the application portal. The event will provide stakeholders with an opportunity to hear from and speak to BEIS in detail about the IETF eligibility criteria and application process as well as get expert advice on how to complete the application form correctly.

There are also fortnightly stakeholder clinics where you can speak directly to BEIS and ask questions around potential bids, scope of the competitions, eligibility criteria, how to apply for funding, the IETF support and information services available, etc.  The first ones are taking place on 22 February 2022 and 8 March 2022. To register to attend a stakeholder clinic, please visit the registration site.

On Thursday 10 March there will be a live event in Birmingham to showcase some of the IETF’s funded projects. The event will include an opportunity to hear from manufacturing sites who are planning to deploy technologies to reduce their energy demand such as heat recovery, VAR, process controls and to reduce their carbon emissions such as carbon capture and fuel switching to hydrogen.  To attend this event, please visit the registration site.

To support businesses interested in applying for IETF funding, BEIS are running the Virtual Technology Marketplace, which offers industrial site owners (eligible manufacturers and data centres) the chance to browse videos showcasing the potential technology that can reduce the energy demand and emissions associated with their industrial processes. To register for the Technology Marketplace, please visit the BEIS registration site.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched the Phase 2: Spring 2022 competition window of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF). Phase 2 is worth around £220 million in funding between Autumn 2021 and 2025.

Businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can now bid for a share of up to £60 million in grant funding through the Phase 2: Spring 2022 competition window. To view the applicant guidance and make an application for funding, please visit our competition page.

The competition will open for applications on Monday 31 January and will run until Friday 29 April 2022. The competition will provide grant funding towards the costs of:

• Studies - feasibility and engineering studies to investigate identified energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects prior to an investment decision.
• Energy Efficiency projects - deployment of technologies to reduce industrial energy consumption.
• Deep Decarbonisation projects - deployment of technologies to achieve industrial emissions savings.

Case studies of Phase 1 competition winners can be found here.  

If you have any questions about the Phase 2: Spring 2022 competition or would like to discuss a potential application, please contact IETF@beis.gov.uk. We have also published answers to Frequently Asked Questions. 

The competition is open to the following sectors, organisations and professionals including:

• Manufacturing
• Data centres
• Mining and quarrying companies
• Recovery and recycling of materials companies.

IETF Phase 2: Spring 2022 stakeholder event

We invite you to join our online IETF Phase 2: Spring 2022 webinar on Tuesday 1 February. It will be an opportunity to:

• Hear about the scope of the competitions
• Hear from industrial site owners who were funded in Phase 1
• Learn about eligibility criteria
• Learn how to make an application for funding
• Network online and develop partnerships for the competitions
• Speak with BEIS online for one-to-one discussions about the competitions.

To register for the webinar, please visit our registration site.

The event will be recorded and will be available to stakeholders to view at any time via a playback system.

To help potential applicants to find suitable partners, the IETF networking platform has been launched. To register and book meetings, please visit https://ietf-phase2.meeting-mojo.com. BEIS officials will also offer one-to-one confidential discussions via the networking platform on the day of the briefing event.

BEIS will offer fortnightly stakeholder clinics throughout the window. Further details will be shared in due course. Applicants can also view videos from past winners and suppliers of eligible technologies on our Virtual Technology Marketplace. To register for the Technology Marketplace, please visit our registration site,

Details on other funding opportunities can be found here.