Global Business Innovation Programme in the USA - Hydrogen
Innovate UK seeks up to 15 companies in the Hydrogen sector to join our programme in Washington DC and California.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
22/01/2024
Registration Closes
01/03/2024
Award
Innovate UK will fund and organise flights, accommodation, in-market travel, and conference fees for successful applicants. Innovate UK will also pay for any reasonable adjustments throughout the initiative. One representative from each company will be funded.
Organisation
Innovate UK
Note: This opportunity is fully funded support and not monetary funding.
Innovate UK’s Global Business Innovation Programme helps businesses explore collaborative innovation and understand the landscape that exist in overseas markets. We are currently accepting applications for up to 15 companies in the Hydrogen sector to join our programme supported by various research centres and businesses in Washington DC/ California – USA.
Participants will be provided with pre-visit support from an Innovate UK EDGE Innovation and Growth Specialist. The aim is to foster and support collaborative research and development through UK and US partnerships.
We welcome applications from businesses developing innovative hydrogen solutions that can be exploited in small-medium industrial clusters or non-industrial clusters of any size. Areas of focus include:
Hydrogen use solutions:
- HGVs, marine and public transport and the associated infrastructure
- Small-medium scale industrial hydrogen applications (particularly those that can be scaled)
- Any other use-case that can justifiably support a small-medium and/or non-industrial cluster (including those that may not have been explored thus far)
Hydrogen production solutions:
- Renewable hydrogen.
- Hydrogen with CCS
- Hydrogen from nuclear
Hydrogen from BECCS Storage and distrbution solutions:
- Technologies that can integrate with others as more are deployed in the local vicinity
- Approaches to repurposing hydrogen infrastructure in a modular way
Enablers:
- Manufacturing processes
- Upskilling and reskilling
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A GBIP has three stages:
Prepare for the market
Preparing for the market includes the cohort being briefed by sector and market experts on, for example, cultural aspects of conducting business in that country. Delegates receive help to find business partners and arrange meetings and are advised on best practice including the management and protection of their intellectual property.
Visiting the market
Visiting the market provides opportunities to attend pre-arranged meetings and activities in order to better understand and maximise the opportunities that the visit presents.
Exploiting the opportunity
Exploiting the opportunity is arguably the most important aspect of the programme. To maximise the opportunity, participating companies are given bespoke one-to-one support from an Innovate UK EDGE innovation and growth specialist to help develop and implement an action plan.
The Global Business Innovation Programme operates on a competitive basis and businesses selected are required to participate in all three stages (some or all of which may be online).
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To apply for this
initiative, you must be a UK based company, with fewer than 500 employees, and have a focus on hydrogen.On acceptance to the Programme a commitment fee of £500 will be obtained from each delegate, which will be refunded on completion of the full activities and agreed action plan. Non-completion after formal acceptance may result in forfeiting some or all the commitment fee.
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The Hydrogen Americas 2024 Summit & Exhibition in Washington DC will likely include announcements about the distribution of the Department of Energy’s hydrogen hub funding and offer networking opportunities with prominent US stakeholders.
California is home to the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), a hydrogen hub with federal funding, which pioneers a non-industrial hydrogen market, focusing on renewable hydrogen, biomass conversion, and decarbonising public transport and port operations. The California Hydrogen Leadership Summit is held in California. The California Hydrogen Leadership Summit discusses policies and incentives to boost hydrogen production, usage, and storage, crucial for California’s emission targets and goals in climate protection, air quality, energy resilience, and sustainable growth.
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Register for the applicant briefing on 6th February 2024 here.
Closing date for application: 1st March 2024
Pre visit briefing: 23rd – 24th April 2024
Innovation visit: 9th – 18th June 2024
For more information, assistance with your application or to discuss accessibility needs, please contact Dr Dilruk Yahathugoda at dilruk.yahathugoda@innovateukedge.ukri.org.