UK-Australia Renewable Hydrogen Innovation Partnership Programme

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s (DCCEEW) to invest up to £5 million in innovation projects.

The aim of this competition is to reduce the cost associated with the development of a low carbon hydrogen economy. This competition is seeking proposals from business-led collaborations between UK and Australian registered businesses.

Specific Themes

• Your project must focus on two or more of the following:
  • affordable low carbon hydrogen production, including integration of hydrogen production with renewables
  • safe and efficient hydrogen storage and distribution
  • hydrogen utilisation in mobility, industrial processes and power
• Example innovation areas of interest include but are not limited to:
  • hydrogen business models
  • low carbon hydrogen carriers such as ammonia and methanol
  • electrolysis, methane reforming, pyrolysis or other production methods
  • physical infrastructure, for example tanks and pipes
  • blending, deblending and purification technologies
  • sensing and metering
  • compression
  • materials
  • fuel cells
  • refueling

Project Size

• Your project’s total costs must not exceed £2 million.

Projects they will not fund

• They are not funding projects that:
  • do not have a collaboration agreement with an Australian registered organisation funded by Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s (DCCEEW)
  • are focussed on sustainable aviation fuel
  • are focussed on hydrogen for space heating in either an industrial or domestic setting
  • cannot demonstrate they are developing or using low carbon hydrogen or hydrogen carriers when project is in use commercially
  • are developing or innovating in carbon capture and storage technologies
  • are business as usual and do not demonstrate significant innovation
  • do not benefit the UK
• They cannot fund projects that are:
  • dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

Who can apply?

• Your project
  • Your project must:
    • have collaboration between at least one UK and at least one Australian registered organisation
    • involve a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
    • start by 1 May 2024
    • end by 31 March 2026
  • UK project partners must carry out the majority of their project work in the UK or Australia and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.
  • UK participants must submit an application to Innovate UK and Australian partners must submit an application to the Australian side of the competition.
  • Both UK and Australian applications must be successful to receive grant funding.
• Lead organisation
  • To lead a project your organisation must:
    • be a UK registered business of any size
    • be or involve a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
    • collaborate with at least one Australian registered eligible organisation or organisations applying to the Australian side of the competition
  • Australian organisations must be separate legal entities, not linked to the UK partners.
• Project team
  • The project team must involve at least one grant claiming UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
  • To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
    • business of any size
    • academic institution
    • charity
    • not for profit
    • public sector organisation
    • research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • Each UK partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project.
• Subcontractors
  • Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
  • Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
  • You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK.
  • You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. They will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.
  • All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.