Deadline Date: February 09, 2026
The CSIR Energy Research Centre is now accepting grant applications to support small, medium and micro-sized enterprises in the energy sector.
The programme focuses on technology development support for SMMEs, participation across the energy sector value chain, addressing skills gaps in the emerging energy industry, encouraging innovation, empowering innovators with relevant skills, supporting localisation and industrial development, and improving the quality of life of South Africans through research and technological innovation.
The programme is intended to support SMMEs that are already participating in the energy sector as well as those seeking to enter the sector. It aims to strengthen technical and entrepreneurial capabilities while contributing to the broader development of the energy industry and the national economy.
One component of the programme targets South African owned SMMEs and individuals pursuing enterprises within the energy sector through a one-week training course. This course empowers participants with technical knowledge related to energy technologies expected to emerge from the country’s energy transition and places emphasis on opportunities relevant to SMMEs. Higher consideration is given to female participants and persons with disabilities.
The training covers value chain analysis of renewable technologies and identifies possible opportunities for enterprise development. It also addresses project finance and business case development for renewable technologies, as well as policy and regulatory considerations, with an intense focus on opportunities available to SMMEs. This capacity-building initiative is envisaged to train a total of 40 SMMEs over the next four years.
A second component of the programme is a technical incubation initiative for South African owned SMMEs that already have established enterprises within the energy sector. This initiative prioritises enterprises that are beyond the start-up phase, already offer products and services in the energy space, and are experiencing challenges related to technical expertise in the renewable energy domain.
All participating enterprises will be screened against predetermined criteria to identify those with the potential to form the core of a growing energy industry and to continue expanding with support from the CSIR Energy Research Centre. The technical incubation initiative is envisaged to train a total of 20 SMMEs over the next four years.
For more information, visit CSIR.
