New funding to help decarbonise UK industrial clusters

The challenge will commit £170mn towards deploying technologies such as carbon capture and hydrogen networks in industrial clusters, supporting a mission to establish the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040. 

UK businesses will have the opportunity to apply for a share of up to £1mn to develop plans for decarbonising an industrial cluster. Successful applicants will then compete for a second phase, where up to £131mn will be awarded for projects that will deliver significant emissions reductions in a cluster by 2030. 

UK businesses can also apply for funds to prepare plans for their journey and for the development of industrial cluster decarbonisation roadmaps for major UK industrial regions. 

Bryony Livesey, Interim Challenge Director, Industrial Decarbonisation at UKRI said: ‘These initial competitions are an important first step for businesses to tell us their ideas and plans to accelerate cost-effective decarbonisation as part of a wider cluster of firms and solutions. I’d urge businesses to engage with these competitions as it provides a front door to more significant funding opportunities through the challenge at the next stage.’ 

Meanwhile, the government is seeking comments on its Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) which will help energy-intensive industries to cut their bills and carbon emissions through investing in efficiency measures. The intention is to help shrink industrial emissions by around 2mn tonnes between 2028 and 2032.