Q.
InotewithinteresttheopportunitytobidforfundingfromDfIDthatwillmeettheir
objectives.However,the(EnergyCatalystRound4)callpublishedbyInnovateUKmakesmentionof
theTransformingEnergyAccessprogramme,tobefundedbyDfID.Thisprogrammehasnot
progressedtoTenderphaseasyet,despitedraftTermsofReferencebeingissuedinaboutOctober
2015.
Canweassumethatatenderprocessisimminent,asifwedonothavefulldetailsoftherelevant
TermsofReference,itwillmakeitveryhardforustodesignanapplicationtoInnovateUK.
A.
TheTransformingEnergyAccess(TEA)programmeprovidestheoverarchingapproval,
fundingandreportingframework,butitdoesnotchangethescopeoftheEnergyCatalystRound4
callwhichiscoveredbytheEnergyCatalystGuidanceforApplicants.TheTEAtermsofreferenceto
whichyoureferarefortheconsortiumtomanagetheoverallTEAprogrammeandwillnotaffect
EnergyCatalystapplicationsandprocesses.ThereweredraftTEAtermsofreferencemadeavailable
aspartofourearliermarketengagementprocess,andinduecourseafinalisedtermsofreference
willbemadeavailableontheDFIDPortal.
Q.
Weofferrenewableenergyfeasibilitystudiestobusinessandcommunityorganisations.If
thisfitsanyofyourapplicationcriteria,wecouldeithergainfundingdirectlyandthenapproacha
communityorg,oraskacommunityorgtogainthefundingtothencometous.Doesthatworkfor
you?
A.
Yourquestionisnotexplicitlyclearsothereisnotenoughdetailtosayifyouwouldbe
eligibleforInnovateUKfunding.Itwouldseemthatyouareaprojectmanagement/deliverytype
organisation.Asitwillbeafeasibilitystudyproject,youwouldmostlikelybeenteringtheearly
stagesowewouldencourageyoutoreadtheearlystageguidanceforapplicants.Asageneralrule,
therearenoeligibilityruleswhichpreventyourbusinessleadingaprojectandhavingacommunity
organisationasapartner,orthecommunityorganisationcomingdirectlytousbutwithyour
businessasapartner.Ifyourorganisationisnotabusinessbutaresearchorganisationthenyouwill
havetofindatleastonebusinessfortheproject.
Q.
Couldyouelaborate/explainwhatismeantbe"applicationsmustalsoberelevanttothe
needsofdevelopingcountries."Iamworkingwithacompanywhoislookingforfundingtodevelop
aproductforthelowcarbonsector,butthemarketwillbeUKdomesticandCommercial–would
somethinglikethisqualify?
A.
Theproject/consortiummaybefocussedonUKmarkets(i.e.notprimarilyondeveloping
countrymarkets),buttobewithinscopeforDFIDfundingtheinnovationoroutcomesoftheproject
shouldalsohaverelevancetotransformingtheenergyaccessneedsofpoorhouseholdsand
enterprisesinSub-SaharanAfricaandSouthAsia.Applicantsmustexplainthisrelevanceintheir
application.
Q1.
OurcompanyhasbeenworkingwithUniversityofXonprojectsthathavebeen
supportedbyInnovateUKfundingoverthepastfiveyears.Theworkhasbeenfocusedonenabling
themorewidespreadproliferationofXthroughtheuseofXtechnology.Adevicehasbeendesigned
byanindividual/companyinSouthKorea.Noprototypeshaveyetbeenmadetotestits
performance.Wehaveresearchedtheindustryforfouryearsandareconvincedthatthisunique
designcouldremovetheproblemofX.WoulditbepermittedtouseadesignfromS.Koreainour
project?Ifanycostsareincurredinacquiringalicenseoragreementfromthatcompany/individual
beclassedaseligible?
A1.
Idon’tbelievethereareanyissueswithusingadesignfromSouthKoreaaslongasthe
projectisn’tchargingforanyoverseascosts.Asforthelicencingcosts,ourguidancesaysthe
following:LicensinginNewTechnologies–Exceptionally,InnovateUKmayconsidersupportwhereit
makessensetodoso,forexample,toavoid“reinventingthewheel”.Whereimportedtechnology
makesupalargepartofyourproject(wheretechnologyisvaluedatmorethan£100,000)thenit
willbeexpectedthatthereisdevelopmentofthattechnologyaspartofyourproject.
Q2.
Giventhatthedesignhasnotyetbeentakentoprototype(orindeedanyformof
physicalmodel)wewouldeitherneedtoasktheS.Koreancompanytoproduceprototypesorwe
wouldhavetoproducethemourselves.Ifthelatter,thenIassumethesewouldbeeligiblecosts,but
whatabouttheformer?Itisquitelikelythatproductionofaprototypewouldexceedcostsof£100k.
Also,sincethereisapatentappliedforthisdesignalready,wewouldnotbeallowedto“reinvent
thewheel”without“trespassing”(orwhateverthewordis)onsomeoneelse’sIP.Areweallowedto
buyI.P.orashareoftheI.P.?
A2.
InnovateUKfundingistoacceleratethebestofUKinnovationtowardscommercialisation
withtheobjectiveofUKbusinessgrowth-i.e.theprojectmustinvolvesubstantiveotherUK
innovationifthetechnologyisbeingacquiredfromS.Korea.Themarketneed&opportunitybeing
addressedcouldbeanywhereglobally.WherethebestwaytoachievethisisforUKbusinessesto
workwithoverseaspartnersorsubcontractors,thenthisisallowed.Overseassubcontractsare
allowableaseligiblecostswherestrongjustificationcanbeprovided.Overseaspartnersmay
participateinaprojectbutcannotreceivegrantfundingfromInnovateUKexceptthrougha
competitionco-funderandwherespecificallyallowedinthecompetitionbrief.Round4projectswill
befundedbyDFIDandmustberelevanttotheneedsofdevelopingcountries;internationalpartners
maybefundedbyDFID.
Q.
WeareworkingtogetherwithaUKbusinessdevelopingapioneeringXsystembasedonX.
Thesystemiselectricallypowered,whichreducesdependenceoffossilfuelsand,thus,reduces
carbonemissions.ItsnoveltycreatesopportunitytoexpandUKbusinessesandsupplychainsthat
deliverworld-leadingsolutions.
Wearethinkingaboutsubmittingaproposaltoproveandassessthecapabilityandenergyefficiency
ofthesystem.However,onPage9oftheGuidanceforApplicantsdocument,the"OutofScope"
paragraphreads"...DFIDisseekingtoacceleratethebestinnovationsandresearchwiththe
potentialtotransformenergyaccessforpoorhouseholds,enterprisesandcommunitiesinSubSaharanAfricaandSouth-Asia.Applicantsshouldnote,therefore,thatDFIDconsidersitunlikelythat
thoseobjectiveswouldbestbemetbyprojectsfocussedoninnovationsorapplicationsinnuclear,
carbonabatementortransport".
Bybeingaprojectwithinthetransportsector,webelieveDFIDwouldnotfundit.WouldEPSRC
considerfundingthisprojectunderthiscall?
A.
AprojectinthisareaisunlikelytobewithinscopeofDFIDfunding.EPSRCfundingisonly
availabletotheacademicpartnersinaprojectconsortiumwheretheotherbusinesspartnersare
fundedbyDFID,whichinthiscasetheywouldnotbe.Applicationsfocusedoninnovationin
transportpropulsionsystemsarealsonormallyoutofscopeforEnergyCatalyst,sore-submissionin
afutureroundwouldnotbeanoptioneither.However,asidentifiedinourDeliveryPlanfor
2016/17InnovateUKwillbelaunchingnewcompetitionslaterintheyearthatwillbeopentothe
transportarea(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/innovate-uk-delivery-plan-2016-to2017).
Q.
HowmanytimescanIentertheEnergyCatalystEarlyStagewiththesameproject?
A.
Youcanre-submitanapplicationonce(i.e.applytwice)forthesameproject.
Q.
EnergyCatalystRound4informationincludestheopportunityfororganisationsfrom
developingcountriestoparticipateinprojectsparticularlyinSub-SaharanandSouthAsiancountries.
PleasecanyouconfirmthatIndiaisaneligibleSouthAsiancountry?
A.
ProjectsmustbeUKledbuttheconsortiumcanincludepartnersfromanycountryprovided
thattheoutcomesoftheprojectarerelevanttotheneedsofdevelopingcountries.Iftheoutcomes
oftheprojectarerelevanttotheenergyaccessneedsofpoorcommunitiesinIndiaorotherSouth
AsianorSub-Saharancountries,thenyourprojectshouldsatisfythataspectofscope.
Researchandinnovationprojectscandrawonrelevantexperiencesandinnovationworkfromother
countriesandregionsaslongasitcanbeshownthattheseareapplicabletoSub-SaharanAfricaand
SouthAsia.ThisdoesnotprecludeinnovationpartnerseitherfromtheUKorelsewhere,aslongas
theresultsoftheresearchandinnovationwillbeofrelevanceandbeneficialtopoorhouseholdsand
enterprisesinSub-SaharanAfricaandSouthAsia.
Q.
WearearenewableenergycompanythathasbeenactiveintheUKforalmost10yearsin
thedevelopment,fundingandmanagementofrenewableenergyprojects.Historically,muchofthis
activityhasbeenfocusedonwell-establishedtechnologiessuchasSolarPV,butmorerecentlywe
havebeenlookingatnewer,emergingtechnologies.Withinthelastyearwehavebeenworking
withthe[Australian]ownersofanewtechnologywithaviewtoestablishinganinitialpilotplantin
theUKtoconvertwasteXintoXThetechnologyinquestionisbasedonX.
TheAustraliantechnologyownershavebuiltacoupleofpilotplants,buttherehasnotyetbeenany
commercialdeploymentofthetechnology.Theyareindiscussionswithsomeinterested3rdparties
aboutpossiblecommercialdeployments,althoughthesewouldbeforverydifferentwastestreams
thanours.Ourprojectfortheapplicationoftheirtechnology“platform”toawasteXstreamwould
bethefirstofitskindintheworld,eitherasapilotplantorcommercialroll-out.Wehaveidentified
aninitialtargetwastestreamintheUKandhavebeenworkingwiththeAustralianteamtodevelop
aclearbusinessplan.Thecapitalcostsrequiredforaninitialplantareexpectedtobeintheregion
ofX.
Wehaverecentlyraisedsomeinitialcapitalfromourinvestorbasefortheproject,butthesum
raisedisstillsomewayshortofthefigurementionedabove–thereforeweareactivelylookingfor
alternativesourcesoffundingtobridgethegap.So,wewouldbeinterestedinfindingoutwhether,
atleastinprinciple,theEnergyCatalystprogrammemightbeaviableoptionforusorifthereare
anyothercleantech/renewableenergyorientedfundingschemesthatyouwouldadviseusto
consider.
A.
ThistechnologyandmarketapplicationcouldcertainlybeinscopefortheEnergyCatalystor
forourOpenSectororotherSectorcompetitioncallsopeninglaterthisyear.Overseaspartnerscan
beinvolvedinInnovateUKfundedprojectsalthougharenotnormallyfundablebyInnovateUK
(EnergyCatalystRound4doesallowfundingofoverseaspartners);foreignlicensesandsubcontractsmaybeallowableaseligiblecostswherenecessaryandjustified;InnovateUKcansupport
R,D&Dbutdoesnotprovidecapitalfundstoprojects-soyouwouldneedtocarefullystudyInnovate
UKfundingrulesandcompetitionscopepriortopreparinganapplication.Asubstantiveelementof
UKinnovation(initsbroadestsense)intheprojectwillalsoneedtobecleartowinInnovateUK
funding.
EnergyCatalystRound4isbeingfundedbyDFIDandaswellasmeetingtheenergytrilemmascope
gateway,projectoutcomesmustalsohaveline-of-sightimpactonaccesstoclean,affordableand
resilientenergyforpoorhouseholds,communitiesandenterprisesinsub-SaharanAfrica&South
Asia-i.e.youwouldneedtoexplainconvincinglyhowyourUKdemonstration&marketapplication
projectwouldalsohaverelevanceatcommunityscaleinthoseregions.
Itwouldbeworthalsohavingaconversationwithourpartners,KnowledgeTransferNetwork(KTN)-
http://www.ktn-uk.co.uk/,astheymaybeabletoconnectyoutoadditionalfundingsourcesand
alsogivefeedbackonanypotentialapplicationtoInnovateUK.