New funding announced to help the UK PEMD industry scale-up

Black female quality control inspector examining machine part on production line.

Projects sought to share £5 million in funding and improve power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) manufacturing supply chains in the UK.

Run by Innovate UK the ‘PEMD scale-up’ funding opportunity from the driving the electric revolution challenge at UK Research and Innovation supports the growing need to invest in UK PEMD manufacturing.

Supporting PEMD manufacturing

Being run in 2 strands the £5 million funding opportunity will enable the scale up of PEMD manufacturing in the UK.

These projects are designed to develop a resilient, cross-sectoral, UK supply chain for these enabling technologies critical for net zero.

Strand 1: adopting manufacturing best practice

Aims to:

  • fund feasibility studies that support the transfer of:
    • knowledge
    • solutions
    • technologies
    • best practice from other manufacturing sectors
  • demonstrate the impact of these innovations on the PEMD supply chain.

Strand 2: manufacturing process development

Aims to fund innovative process development projects that impact manufacturing:

  • cost
  • capability
  • efficiency to grow resilient manufacturing PEMD supply chains.

Who should apply

UK-registered businesses of any size in the PEMD supply chain can apply for the competition:

  • strand 1 projects can request grants of up to £400,000
  • strand 2 projects can request grants of up to £800,000.

Up to 70% of the applicant’s project costs can be covered, depending on the size of the business.

Competition briefings

In-person competition briefings and collaboration events are being held across the country:

  • Scotland: Strathclyde, 21 September 2022, 9:00am to 3:00pm UK time
  • north-east: Newcastle, 22 September 2022, 9:00am to 3:00pm UK time
  • Wales: Newport, 27 September 2022, 9:00am to 3:00pm UK time
  • Midlands: Nottingham, 29 September 2022, 9:00am to 3:00pm UK time

Vital for reaching net zero

Driving the electric revolution challenge director Professor Will Drury, said:

Drivers such as climate change, supply chain resilience and the cost of energy mean that there is a growing need to invest in UK manufacturing, particularly across the PEMD value chain.

This new funding allows us to bring in manufacturers from outside the PEMD industry to help us develop a strong, cross-sector, UK supply chain for these technologies vital for reaching net zero.

Top image:  Credit: skynesher, E+ via Getty Images

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