£7.5m funding boost for South West Wales ‘Launchpad’
The funding from UK Government will drive innovation and business growth in renewable technologies
In autumn 2023, the UK Government infused £7.5m into ‘Launchpad: net zero industry, South West Wales’ — a partner project to drive innovation and business growth in renewable technologies in South West Wales.
The programme was designed to build on the success of the region’s well-established South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) — with businesses and researchers able to apply for a series of competitive grants from the end of October to 13th December 2023.
Developed by Net Zero Industry Wales, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and Pembrokeshire County Council in partnership with Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation, the Launchpad project will contribute to delivering growth in the net zero, renewable energy and circular economy sectors. Plus, it will contribute towards high-value employment in South West Wales — which is the second largest carbon emitter in the UK.
Grants will be made available for selected innovation projects supporting net zero transition efforts in Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, or Pembrokeshire in 2024 and beyond. Successful projects may include floating offshore wind investments, green or blue hydrogen production and distribution, CO2 capture and storage, and sustainable fuel solutions… But the list is non exhaustive!
With the successful applicants to be announced in 2024, they will receive:
- A grant worth anywhere from £25,000 to £1 million depending on the impact the project is likely to make on the cluster.
- Expert, high-level support from public sector officials, academia and industry partners on developing business cases for coordinated investment of future public funding opportunities.
- Access to established governance structures, helping to drive innovation projects forward while adapting to new opportunities.
- Support to develop high quality business led projects in response to future UKRI opportunities, helping to unlock funding.
- Skills development to support the transformation of the workforce.
Our CEO, Ben Burggraaf, said: “Our role is to power the uptake of low carbon technologies — through fostering collaboration, forming strategic partnerships, and unlocking investment opportunities, like this one.
“Wales has huge potential to lead the way in renewable energy and production of sustainable goods and services and we hope that our partnership with Innovate UK’s Launchpads will provide the support, and help unlock the investment, that so many businesses need to adopt low carbon technologies.”
Watch this space for more information on the successful applicants!
To find out more visit:https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/programme/launchpads/