The Low Carbon call – for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

By Andrew James

In addition to the call for workspace projects that was released yesterday, there were two more European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) calls for projects in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly:

• Low Carbon: call in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (OC05R18P 0899)
• Information and Communications Technology: call in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (OC05R18P 0896)

This blogpost is about the Low Carbon call, as I suspect that this is potentially of more direct interest to our client base – our Energy & Infrastructure Advisory team have already identified some potential applicants among their clients and contacts.

The Low Carbon call – headlines

From a reading of the webpage and the call specification, the headlines are:

• Up to £20,500,000 of funding is available through this call. A minimum value of £500,000 of funding can be applied for
• Outline application deadline: 22 March 2019
• It is anticipated that funding from this call will be awarded for up to three years
• Projects put forward under this call must cover the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership area
• This call is looking to support the shift towards a low carbon economy (see further below)

The Low Carbon call – proposals sought

“Proposals are invited that will deliver one or more of the indicative actions set out under investment priorities of the operational programme (see below) and that demonstrate:

• Alignment with activities described within the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Territorial Investment Strategy.

Where relevant:

• The project will support the growth of sectors/technologies where there is existing or potential comparative advantage for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
• The project will address key low carbon challenges and opportunities for the area (e.g. energy storage, fuel poverty)
• The project will support research, development, innovation and knowledge transfer in low-carbon technologies
• The level of local demand and market failure will be addressed by proposed activities

In addition, if appropriate, applicants are invited to:

• Specifically consider how activities will support or deliver local low carbon strategies in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
• Establish links to research institutions in order that close-to-market concepts can be realised
• Reference existing provision that should be complemented (e.g. Growth Hubs);
• Reference, if appropriate, the Research and Development and Innovation Framework where projects overlap into the Research and Innovation ambitions of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.”

The Low Carbon call – indicative actions

Set out in 3.3 of the call specification are indicative actions under the four strands of Priority Axis 4 that are supported by the call. These indicative actions/ specific objectives include measures referring to:

• Renewable energy production and/or demonstration projects with technologies referenced including:
  • Wind
  • Solar
  • Biomass
  • Geothermal
  • Ground and air source heat pumps
  • Anaerobic digestion plants
  • Landfill gas schemes
  • Combined Heat and Power
• “Investing in building retrofit, energy efficiency measures, renewable and smart energy systems deployment, especially whole building or place solutions exemplifying next phase technologies which are near to market”
• “Increase implementation of whole place low carbon solutions and decentralised energy measures” e.g., through:
  • Investments in local/regional smart grid demonstration projects, including validation and solving system integration issues;
  • Low carbon transport / integrated and sustainable transport strategies and plans
• Business support, research and development and financing methods to “increase innovation in, and adoption of, low carbon technologies.”

And a lot more…

The Low Carbon call – next steps

As my colleague, Richard Wadman, has said in his blogs on ESIF funding calls in the past, I would strongly suggest that anyone considering a project that they think may fit with this call should:

1. read the call and self-assess ‘fit’ of the project with the call
2. if you feel that there is a potential fit of project with this call, contact Technical Assistance ([email protected] or 01872 323248) direct or via us to talk through the project to hopefully get a steer as to:
   1. eligibility and potential grant intervention rate
   2. key points to address in an application (if applicable)

Our ‘grants team’ can assist in the above and with the application itself.  I would see us working with the Energy & Infrastructure Advisory team on an application (for example on renewable energy generation project) bringing their knowledge on the sector into the application and working with them and the applicant on sourcing the match funds.