Notice

Competition guidance for Energy Catalyst round 6: transforming energy access

Published 7 August 2018

This notice was withdrawn on 14 December 2022

This competition is no longer open. Search for current opportunities

1. Dates and deadlines

Competition opens	20 August 2018
Final date for registration	Midday 14 November 2018
Deadline for submission of the full application (including finance forms, appendices and Je-S forms)	Midday 21 November 2018
Decision to applicants	25 January 2019
Projects must start by	1 April 2019

Please read the full competition scope before you make your application.

You can read reports and guidance from previous Bioenergy for Sustainable Energy Access in Africa competitions on the FTP site after you register for the competition.

2. Funding

There is up to £10 million of funding available from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This is for research and development projects that tackle the technical challenges described in the brief for this competition.

There are 3 strands:

Early-stage

These are feasibility study projects. Projects can last 6 to 12 months, with total costs ranging from £50,000 to £300,000.

Mid-stage

These are industrial research projects. Projects can last 12 to 24 months, with total costs ranging from £50,000 to £1.5 million.

Late-stage

These are experimental development projects. Projects can last 12 to 30 months, with total costs ranging from £50,000 to £3 million.

Please see the competition scope for more information on the 3 strands.

Please read our funding rules guidance for more information on the different categories of funding and the rules around our state aid framework.

3. Requirements and eligibility

You may be eligible to receive different rates of funding. This depends on the type and size of your organisation and the activity that you are doing in the project. In your application form, please select the primary type of research that you will be doing in the project and calculate the amount of grant you wish to claim. This should be in line with the Innovate UK funding rules.

4. How to apply

Before you apply into an Innovate UK competition, it is important to understand the whole application process. The information contained in this guidance is specific to this competition. In addition, please read our general guidance for applicants to help you submit a good application. It will give generalised information on:

• funding rules
• project costs
• state aid
• how to submit your application
• categories of research and development
• participation in a project

You will receive an email acknowledgement of your registration followed by a second email up to 48 hours later. The second email will contain a username and password for our secure upload facility along with a unique application number and form.

Application: Once you have received your unique username and password, you can sign into the secure website to access the finance forms for this competition.

Finance form: only finance forms named ’Project Finance Form.xls’ will be accepted into this competition. Previous versions of the project finance form will be ineligible. When you register for the competition you will have access to our secure site. You will be able to download the finance form from the public area of this site.

Appendices must conform to the guidance for this specific competition. Appendices which do not follow the guidance will result in ineligible applications that will not be sent for assessment.

Submit your documents: You or your lead partner should submit:

• your application form with your unique application number for this competition
• project appendices as pdf documents, labelled with your application number
• project finance forms for every non-academic partner in your project
• Je-S submission pdf output document for every academic partner in your project, if any

Assessment: Once the competition submission deadline is reached, your application is sent for assessment.

Notification: We will notify you or your lead partner of the outcome of your application on the date stated in the timeline. The notification will be sent via e-mail to the e-mail address provided in the application form.

Feedback: We will give feedback to successful and unsuccessful applicants approximately 4 weeks after you have been notified of the decision. The lead applicant can access the feedback by signing into the secure website where you uploaded your application documents. It is the responsibility of the lead to communicate the feedback with the rest of the consortium. No additional feedback can be provided and there will be no further discussion on the application.

5. The application form

This section explains the structure of the application form and offers guidance on what to answer in each question.

The structure is as follows:

• application details
• summary of proposed project
• public description of the project
• gateway question: scope
• question 1: need or challenge
• question 2: approach and innovation
• question 3: team and resources
• question 4: market awareness
• question 5: outcomes and route to market
• question 6: wider impacts
• question 7: project management
• question 8: risks
• question 9: additionality
• question 10: costs and value for money
• other funding from public sector bodies
• finance summary table

Please make sure that you upload the final version of your application by the deadline. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not upload a blank or incomplete application form.

• you can only use the application form provided. It contains specific information including a unique reference number for your project
• the application form contains specific fields. It is important that you complete each field and submit a fully completed form. Incomplete forms will be rejected
• the application form must not be altered, converted or saved as a different version of Microsoft Word
• the space provided in each field of the form is fixed. You must restrict your responses in each of the fields to the space provided. The typeface, font size and colour are predetermined and cannot be changed. Illustrations and graphics cannot be included in the application form.
• the light grey shaded fields are completed automatically from other information entered on the form, such as the total columns of a table. These cannot be overwritten
• you should be able to see your total answer to the question when looking at the application form in print view. Any text that cannot be seen in this view or when the form is printed will not be assessed

Field	Guidance
Competition name	This field will show the full name of the Innovate UK competition to which the form applies. You do not need to enter anything here.
Document ID	This field is completed automatically.
Applicant number	This field is completed automatically and is the reference that you should use on all correspondence (this is the 5 or 6 digit number after the dash).
Application details
Project title	Enter the full title of the project.
Research category	Please select from the drop down list.
Project timescales	Enter the estimated start date and its planned duration. These are indicative at this stage and are not guaranteed.
(Lead ) organisation name	Enter the full registered name of the (lead) organisation for the project. If you are not in a consortium application, these will be your organisation details. Please note that the lead organisation will be the main point of contact between Innovate UK and the project team
(Lead) organisation contact details	Enter the full name, postcode, email address and telephone number of the main point of contact between Innovate UK and the project.

Summary of proposed project (not scored)

Please provide a short summary of the content and objectives of the project including what is innovative about it.

This summary is not scored, but provides an introduction to your proposal for the benefit of Innovate UK staff and assessors only. It will not be used for any public dissemination. It should cover, in brief:

• need or challenge: The business need, technological challenge or market opportunity to be targeted
• approach and innovation: The approach to be taken and how this will improve on current state-of-the-art
• outcomes: The difference the project will make to the competitiveness and productivity of the partners involved

Public description of the project (not scored)

To comply with government practice on openness and transparency of public-funded activities, Innovate UK has to publish information relating to funded projects. Please provide a short description of your proposal in a way that will be understandable to the general public. Do not include any commercially confidential information, for example intellectual property or patent details.

Describe your project. Funding will not be provided to successful projects without this.

a) Gateway question A: technical scope

How does this application align with the specific competition scope?

• all applications must address the energy ‘trilemma’ and the energy access needs for Sub-Saharan Africa and/or South Asia
• show that a clear majority of the project’s objectives and activities are aligned with the competition brief You may submit a single appendix as a PDF no larger than 1MB and up to 3 pages in size to support your answer.

b) Gateway question B: gender equality and social inclusion

How is your project helping to address and encourage gender equality and social inclusion?

Your project:

• describe who is expected to benefit directly and indirectly from the project (such as policy employees and contractors, end users, policy makers)
• describe how they will benefit
• describe how your project will address issues of gender equality and social inclusion issues including poorer consumers, disabled and older people
• describe the strategies for maximising inclusion and leaving no-one behind, including the specific risks to particular social sub-groups arising from the project
• describe if or how your specific technology is helping to address gender equality and social inclusion

Provide a logic model to show your rationale and assumptions in the appendix to include:

• activities: what are the actions that you are going to take in this project?
• outputs: what are the direct deliverables and outputs from your activities that your project has control over?
• outcomes: what are the outcomes which you expect to see as a result of your activities and outputs, which can reasonably be expected if you deliver your outputs as intended, but which you have only limited control over?
• impacts: what are the impacts you expect your project to have in terms of the energy trilemma and for people, businesses and services in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia?

You may submit a single appendix as a PDF no larger than 1MB and up to 2 pages in size to support your answer.

6. Competition questions

All questions apply to all project partners and are scored out of 10 marks. Your answer should be no longer than the space provided using font Arial 11.

Question 1: Need or challenge

What is the business need, citizen challenge, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?

You should describe or explain:

• the main motivation for the project
• the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity
• the nearest current state-of-the-art, including those near market or in development, and its limitations
• any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project is focused on developing an existing capability or building a new one
• the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural and/or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity

Question 2: Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

You should describe or explain:

• how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
• how you will improve on the nearest current state-of-the-art identified
• whether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
• the freedom you have to operate
• how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings
• how it will make you more competitive
• the nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example, report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

You may submit a single appendix as a PDF no larger than 1MB and up to 2 pages in size to support your answer.

Question 3: Team and resources

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

You should describe or explain:

• the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking
• the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them
• the details of any vital external parties, including sub-contractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
• (if your project is collaborative) the current relationships between project partners and how these will change as a result of the project
• any gaps in the team that will need to be filled You may submit a single appendix as a PDF no larger than 1MB and up to 4 pages long to support your answer.

Question 4: Market awareness

What does the market you are targeting look like?

You should describe or explain:

• the markets (domestic, international or both) you will be targeting in the project and any other potential markets
• the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available
• the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes
• the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist
• the current UK position in targeting these markets
• the size and main features of any other markets not already listed If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:
• what the market’s size might to be
• how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Question 5: Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term as a result of the project?

You should describe or explain:

• your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position
• your target customers and/or end users, and the value to them, for example, why would they use or buy it?
• your route to market
• how you are going to profit from the innovation (increased revenues or cost reduction)
• how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term
• how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model
• your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:
• your plans to spread the project’s research outputs over a reasonable timescale
• how you expect to use the results generated from the project in further research activities

Question 6: Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside the project team?

You should describe, and where possible measure:

• the economic benefits from the project to external parties, including customers, others in the supply chain, broader industry and the UK economy, such as productivity increases and import substitution
• any expected impact on government priorities
• any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative
• any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:

• quality of life
• social inclusion or exclusion
• jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them
• education
• public empowerment
• health and safety
• regulations
• diversity

Question 7: Project management

How will you manage the project effectively?

You should describe or explain:

• the main work packages of the project, indicating the relevant research category, the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one
• your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms that will be used for a successful and innovative project outcome.
• the management reporting lines
• your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones

You may upload a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix in PDF format no larger than 1MB and up to 2 pages long.

Question 8: Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

You should describe or explain:

• the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks, providing a risk register if appropriate
• how these risks will be mitigated
• any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data sets
• any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how will you manage this?

You may upload a risk register as an appendix in PDF format no larger than 1MB and up to 2 pages long.

Question 9: Additionality

Describe the impact that an injection of public funding would have on this project.

You should describe or explain:

• if this project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as faster to market, more partners and reduced risk
• the likely impact of the project on the business of the partners involved
• why you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessful
• how this project would change the nature of R&D activity the partners would undertake, and the related spend

Question 10: Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

You should describe or explain:

• the total project cost and the grant being requested in terms of the project goals
• how the partners will finance their contributions to the project
• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer and how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise?
• the balance of costs and grant across the project partners
• any sub-contractor costs and why they are critical to the project

Other funding from public sector bodies

If you have included one or more entries in column 7 of the finance summary table (on the following page), please provide:

• the names of the bodies
• the name of the programme or scheme from which the funds are provided
• the fund amounts

7. Finance summary

This table lists the total eligible project costs by contributor.

Column 1 Organisation name	Provide the full names of the (lead) organisation and any contributors in the project consortium (organisation names as noted in Companies House)
Column 2 Organisation registration number	Companies should provide the Company Registration Number (as noted in Companies House). Universities/HEIs should enter their RC number/charitable status/legal entity registration number etc
Column 3 Enterprise category	Select your enterprise category. SME definition is based on the EU definition Medium sized: Headcount less than 250: Turnover less than 50 million euros or balance sheet total less than 43 million euros Small: Headcount less than 50: Turnover less than 10 million euros or balance sheet total less than 10 million euros Micro: Headcount less than 10: Turnover less than 2 million euros or balance sheet total less than 2 million euros
Column 4 Postcode where majority of work will be done	Provide the postcode of each organisation participating in the project.
Column 5 Contribution to the project by each organisation (£)	List the total contribution to be made to the project by each organisation.
Column 6 Funding sought from Innovate UK	Enter the funding sought from Innovate UK for each contributing organisation for this competition.
Column 7 Other funding from public sector bodies	Include any funding applied for separately for the project from any other public sector bodies and not as part of this competition. Funding from other public sector bodies might include other applications to research councils, other government departments, devolved administrations, other public sector organisations and some charities. The purpose of this column is to provide Innovate UK with information on the total public funding for the project.
Column 8 Total (£)	The total cost of the project for each contributor. This is the sum of columns 5, 6 and 7 and will be entered automatically.
Bottom row Total (£)	The total of each column will be entered automatically.

8. Finance form

Each contributor in your project must provide a project finance form using the template ‘Project finance form’ which is available on the FTP site. This must be submitted with the application form by the lead applicant. Each finance form provides a detailed breakdown on each contributor’s total eligible project costs listed in your finance summary table. UK academic partners do not need to complete the finance form but must provide a Je-S form showing a ‘with council’ status. Note that only certain project costs are eligible for grant funding under UK State Aid rules. See our project costs guidance for information on eligible project costs and how to complete the finance forms and Je-S form.

9. Project appendices

You may include appendices for gateway questions A and B plus questions 2,3, 7 and 8 as described in the guidance for those questions. Any additional appendices submitted will not be sent for assessment.

In order that assessors can open and read the appendices, each appendix must:

• conform to the maximum length specifications stated for each question. Assessors are instructed to only read appendices to the lengths specified in the guidance.
• be submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF)
• be legible at 100% zoom/magnification
• have a clear filename that includes the ‘application number’ as in the filename of the application form and shows which question it is supporting. For example ‘Appendix Q2-(application number e.g. 123456)’