CENTRICA has launched a not-for-profit social impact scheme offering grants of between £100,000 and £500,000 to support organisations with innovative ideas for developing affordable, accessible, and reliable clean energy, the company announced today.
Called Energy for Tomorrow, the scheme aims to partner with six to 10 organisations which will each receive funding for a period of up to three years, with priority given to smaller organisations with a turnover of less than £1m and projects focused on the UK.
Sarah Wright, Energy For Tomorrow Fund Manager, commented on the announcement: “British industry is missing out on a huge pool of talent whose ideas and innovations could deliver significant impact and benefit to society.
“The importance of diversity of thinking to deliver the innovation that we need cannot be underestimated.
“I passionately believe in the power of working with all people and organisations, especially social enterprises and social impact initiatives to make a difference.
“The world of energy needs clean, sustainable energy solutions that deliver for all.
“It’s why I am excited to be launching the Energy for Tomorrow grant scheme, which takes funds derived from school solar panel tariffs, to help a diverse range of entrepreneurs get their energy concepts to market.”
Energy for Tomorrow is welcoming applications from charities, Community Interest Companies, not-for-profit and for-profit companies and enterprises with ‘a clear social mission.’
These include organisations that are:
- Innovators – creating new solutions to reduce carbon emissions and changing the way society uses energy
- Helping people – to engage with their individual energy use, understand how their behaviours can impact the environment and demonstrate how things can be done differently
- Supporting communities – especially hard to reach groups, to collaborate and use energy in a more sustainable way, delivering ‘real benefits to their local area.’
Regardless of the structure, Centrica says they require the enterprise to ‘demonstrate a financially sustainable business plan by the time our funding stops and have a sustained commitment to a core social impact.’
The scheme’s revenue is derived from the feed-in-tariffs of solar panels installed on over 250 schools across the UK.
More information is available here
