What is the Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Carbon Abatement Demonstration Programme?
The Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies Demonstration Programme (HFCCAT) is part of the UK Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF) and the Low Carbon Investment Fund (LCIF): DECC funds to bring forward the demonstration and deployment of low carbon energy and energy efficiency technologies. Further information about the ETF and LCIF is available from the Environmental Transformation Fund web page.
Who can apply for funding under HFCCAT?
There are no calls for proposals at the current time.
There were 8 eligibility criteria by which the applications were assessed for previous calls:
- an eligible CAT or HFC technology
- cost effective technology
- at a satisfactory technology readiness level
- a low carbon solution
- offering value for money
- an innovative solution
- how results and feedback will be made available and disseminated
- credibility of proposal and organisations involved
And a secondary set of 3 criteria is detailed below:
- collaborative approach
- feedback of information to benefit further R&D work
- benefits to UK in terms of technical, economic, environmental and social aspects
How much funding was made available?
This is a coordinated joint programme with total public sector budget of up to £50m (£35m for CAT and £15m for HFC). The projects deemed as ‘fundable' were selected by an independent selection panel against strict technical/business criteria which were laid down in guidance to applicants.
Only the highest quality projects have been taken forward and the final allocation of funding has been made available jointly by the three funding agencies who, where appropriate, have taken into account their own criteria for support. All project funding and contracts flow through the TSB.
How can you apply?
There are no calls for proposals at the current time. For information of future calls please refer to the DECC website. The application process for the first and second call for proposals under this programme is detailed below.
The application process was a 2 stage process. Stage 1 was a prequalification questionnaire (HFC Programme applicants did not include this 1st stage). Stage 2 was a more detailed proposal and presentation of the proposal. An independent assessor panel reviewed the proposals. The selection criteria that were used are detailed above.
Other forms of support?
Details of other funders are listed here:
What information will be put into the public domain from each project?
The information to be published and the performance measurements have been agreed on a contract by contract basis with each project. Public domain information is placed on the DECC website as it becomes available and will be sanitised of commercially sensitive / intellectual property rights related information.
Unsuccessful applications for the calls will not be made public initially as these were conducted in confidence and are commercially sensitive.
State Aid
Funding under the programme constitutes State aid under Article 107 of the Treaty Functioning of the European Union. The measure was originally run under the cover of approvals N410/2001 and N 141/2006. From January 2011 the programme will be operated in accordance with the European Commission General Block Exemption Regulation for State aid (Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 107.
Further information on State Aid rules can be found on the EC Europa website State Aid section.
View the General Block Exemption Regulation on the Eur-Lex site.