The Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) has allocated up to £100,000 to each of the 12 low-carbon technology start-ups chosen as part of its TechX Clean Energy Accelerator.
The programme, commencing this month (February), is in its sixth year and continues to be sponsored by energy industry heavyweights bp, Equinor and ADNOC, with ConocoPhillips joining the consortium this past year.
The 12 projects selected span a wide variety of avenues into low-carbon or renewable technologies, which will be broken down into four categories: low-carbon heating, offshore/subsea energy, green hydrogen and sustainable power alternatives.
Low-carbon heating
Kali Technology, one of the successful projects, aims to curate a carbon-zero industrial process heating using low-cost, integrated heat pump technology to power large-scale production sites.
Start-up MECHAPRES has created a high-temperature heat pump featuring embedded thermal storage for industrial heat decarbonisation, with heat and steam as a service potential.
The third winner primarily uses solar thermal technology, but specifically for buildings that harvest carbon-neutral heat all year round. Soltropy said its system is ice-immune, has flexible modules, and can integrate with standard heating systems and components.
Offshore/subsea energy
After investing significant funds into the UK’s flagship subsea station, the Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP) demonstrator project in Orkney, it is unsurprising to see similar projects in this year’s cohort.
Airspection said it plans to use drones, which are designed for more reliable, more robust and safer offshore infrastructure inspection.
Frontier Robotics developed platform-agnostic software and associated hardware for autonomous underwater inspections. According to the start-up, integrating advanced stereo camera systems with edge computing offers visual clarity and 3D mapping through Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology.
Travelling further offshore, Modjoule works on intelligent, battery-equipped containers for cost-effective electrification of shipping vessels.
Green hydrogen
Hydrogen has been a consistent focus of this programme, and projects related to green hydrogen production have been encouraged by NTZC.
HyWaves, for example, has produced a power management control system to increase hydrogen production for dedicated solar-to-hydrogen and lower cost. The company said it can produce green hydrogen 7% more efficiently and 19% cheaper than the current state-of-the-art solutions.
Also, SurreyH2 curated lower-cost green hydrogen production technology using a recirculating catalyst with intrinsic hydrogen storage capability. It offers a hybrid water-splitting technology for producing emission-free hydrogen with above 90% efficiency.
Sustainable power alternatives
INERGIO Technologies has taken a somewhat different approach by exploring the advantages of fuel cells and diesel generators and then combining them for sustainable off-grid and backup power solutions.
Next steps
Following 15 weeks of investor readiness training, refining business models, business storytelling and more, the programme will culminate in a Demo Day in June 2024. After graduation from the programme in June, TechX provides two additional years of growth support and continued access to NZTC’s network and co-working facilities.
The programme has a relatively well-received history, with 57 start-ups supported through the TechX Clean Energy Accelerator. Collectively, the alumni have generated £32 million in revenue since graduating and created 443 new jobs.
Although the RSP in Orkney was not a start-up funded by NZTC, it did invest at its foundational stages. After receiving the funding package, the project completed an initial four-month test in August 2023, which proved itself as a viable avenue for further investment.
Since then, energy industry giants like Shell and TotalEnergies have invested in the project, aiming to utilise the energy produced once the site is fully operational.
Chief acceleration officer & TechX director Mark Anderson said: “This year’s cohort introduces compelling innovations, offering solutions to propel the adoption of clean and affordable energy. TechX start-ups are the companies of the future, poised to reshape the energy landscape and help lead us towards net zero.”