The UK government has launched two competitions designed to boost development and innovation in the energy storage sector.
The competitions will award a total of £20 million in funding to energy storage technology companies with the design, development and commercialisation of energy storage systems.
The government also hopes that innovation in this sector will also help to cut costs as energy storage becomes a more important part of the electricity system.
“As we move towards a low carbon future, the ability to store energy when we don’t need it, for times when we do will become even more important, helping us balance our electricity network and use more clean green power,” said Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker. “This investment will help boost innovation in this area and bring more technologies into this growing market.”
The funding scheme will award up to £17 million for large-scale energy storage demonstration projects and £3 million for research and feasibility studies into storage systems and their components. Up to three large-scale demonstration projects could be funded, says the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
The competition for large-scale demonstration projects will be held in two stages, with the first stage offering up to £40 000 for project designs.
Innovators who are judged to have submitted project designs which offer the best value for money and best fit with the competition’s aims will then be invited to take part in a second stage where up to £12 million will be available to test their designs on the ground. Applications will be assessed against a range of criteria including the technical specification, value for money and potential for commercialisation.
