The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) first launched in 2020 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Fund is managed by the Department for Energy and Net Zero (DESNZ) and is designed to support high-energy using businesses to reduce their power costs by investing in more efficient technologies and reducing carbon emissions by adopting transformational low carbon technologies.
So far, the IETF has helped businesses by funding a range of technologies such as heat recovery, electrification, hydrogen fuel switching to carbon capture. It also supports various studies to help build greater knowledge of these technologies.
Each phase of the IEFT has been developed following the feedback received during the responses and applications during the consultation periods. Some of the alterations have been refinements to the application process and broadening the sector scope to include sites that recycle and recover materials.
IETF Phase 3
The third phase (current phase) launched in January 2024, has an allocated budget of £185m split across two application windows, the first of which closes on 19 April 2024.
Phase 3 will allocate grant funding across three competition strands:
- Studies– feasibility and engineering studies to enable companies to investigate identified energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects prior to making an investment decision.
- Energy efficiency– deployment of technologies to reduce industrial energy consumption.
- Decarbonisation– deployment of technologies to achieve industrial emissions savings.
Further guidance can be found here.
Competition dates
- 29 January 2024
Applicant registration opens at 11am (GMT). - 19 April 2024
Application window closes at 3pm (GMT). Late submissions will not be accepted. - October 2024
Notification of outcome of the eligibility and assessment stages. - December 2024
Notification of outcome of the due diligence stage.
Grant Funding Agreements for successful proposals signed and project set-up details agreed. - 1 July 2025
All successful proposals must start no later than this date. - 31 March 2028
All successful proposals must finish no later than this date.
Grants will be monitored on a regular basis during the grant funding period.
Who can apply for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund?
Any high-energy using businesses within England, Wales and Northern Ireland can apply for the IETF, such as businesses within the below industries:
- Mining and quarrying
- Manufacturing
- Recovery and recycling
- Data centres
- Industrial laundries
- Controlled environment horticulture
If your business is registered in Scotland, the site that is subject of the application must be an eligible industrial site in either England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
It’s also worth noting that due to the DESNZ aiming to have a balanced portfolio of businesses that receive the funding, it may be that they also consider the below factors when selecting projects should there be an oversubscription for one strand:
- Geographical areas
- Technologies
- Industrial sectors
- Organisation size
- Project size
- Site type (clustered/scattered sites)
Scottish IETF
Further information for businesses in Scotland that can apply for the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund can be found here.
Share your thoughts
We hope that our overview of the IETF and its Phase 3 has been both interesting and valuable. Share your thoughts on this subject or any other energy-related matters with us via email at [email protected].
How can Consultiv Utilities help Energy Intensive Industries?
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