Despite the background of a global energy crisis, businesses such as Sunamp, Kensa, equiwatt, Evergreen Smart Power, and Amp-X are pioneering new consumer-driven approaches, products, services, and business models that have the potential to change the energy landscape.

This is an incredibly exciting time to be an innovator in the energy space. Last year, we worked with over 150 companies – large and small – helping them on their journey to attracting new customers and investment. Working with the Catapult works – companies we supported attracted more than £85m last year, creating a total of £150m of investment since we were set up just over five years ago.

Some highlights include:

• The graduation of the second cohort of SMEs on the HSBC-funded Climate Innovation Platform in partnership with the University of Birmingham in February 2023. Now, as part of the third round, we’re working with eight exceptionally talented SMEs including nested loop, ScantheSun, and Salinity Solutions.
• The publication of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Guidance, produced in partnership with government, that helps public sector bodies and their partners understand the best route to Net Zero. The public sector estate represents a chunky source of emissions and is huge new market for clean innovators.
• The progress of Warm Home Prescription, a new service invented by Energy Systems Catapult, which gets money into the hands of vulnerable consumers via health service referrals. A pioneering idea, which we have scaled up to support 1,000 people across England and Scotland. Helping more people stay warm at home, reducing emergency hospital admissions, and providing a solution that would form part of a fair Net Zero future.

There are many other nuggets of impactful innovation throughout this report delivered by the intrepid 250-strong Catapult team.

Key points

Key points

Energy Systems Catapult is here to help innovative businesses tackle the most difficult challenges facing the energy sector:

Energy Launchpad & International – opened doors at home and abroad to create start-up success stories

Energy Launchpad helped a range of start-up innovators during 2022/23 to derisk commercialisation with tailored incubation and provided acceleration support for scale-up innovators.  SMEs that had been supported by Launchpad, such as OrxaGrid who have developed software which can process electricity grid data, collected via a range of smart sensors, and Voltempo developing next generation rapid chargers for electric vehicles.

Internationally, we facilitate partnerships and easy access to UK innovators for international investors, and open export routes to international markets, such as our Innovating for Transport Energy Systems partnership in India. We support international stakeholders to design innovation-ready conditions for Net Zero, including projects in Thailand, Mexico and South Africa.

Net Zero Homes – helped home energy innovations grow fast, delivering peerless real-world testing, skills and investment for zero carbon homes.

Our Living Lab ran a number of innovation trials, including with Amp X validating a digital energy assistant’s potential to facilitate demand-side response, provide carbon savings, and reduce energy costs.

Our Whole Energy Systems Accelerator worked on the Neighbourhood Green project with UK Power Networks’ to understand the exact amount of electricity capacity required to keep residents feeling comfortable, especially during the winter.

The multi-year Electrification of Heat demonstration project delivered a number of new reports and invaluable data on the performance of heat pumps in homes as part of demonstrating the feasibility of a large-scale roll-out of technology in the UK.

Warm Home Prescription expanded a pilot service from 28 to 1,000 homes with the NHS to help vulnerable people with both cold-sensitive health conditions and low incomes, to stay warm and well at home, and out of hospital.

The Metered Energy Savings project developed a standard methodology for accurately measuring energy savings on a half-hourly basis, using smart meter data, to support greater customer confidence in low carbon technologies and encourage.

The Greater South-East Net Zero Hub commissioned us to undertake a domestic energy efficiency skills sector assessment, to understand the current state of the sector and identify where support is needed to decarbonise domestic properties in line with 2050 Net Zero targets.

Net Zero Sites – helped make energy savings and cut emissions across public, commercial or industrial estates.

We launched Public Sector Decarbonisation Guidance resources were downloaded over 1,000 times in the first two weeks.

As part of their Net Zero 2040 programme we worked with Babcock across 10 pilot or ‘Pathfinder’ sites to take a whole systems approach to develop decarbonisation plans in a consistent deployable manner.

Sites are working on the Smart Manufacturing Data Hub project and also the Industry of the Future Programme with Atkins, which developed industrial decarbonisation roadmaps to 2050 for 15 industrial sites from a range of industries.

Net Zero Places – empowered and advised Local Authorities, Network Operators, and Central & Devolved Governments to take Net Zero action.

Local Energy Asset Representation (LEARs) were delivered for a range of councils including Causeway Coast & Glens in Northern Ireland, five local authorities of Cambridgeshire and three local authorities of Lincolnshire. LEARS were also started for South East Scotland covering five local authorities (City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, and West Lothian).

Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) were completed for the whole of Greater Manchester and Peterborough.

While York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Y&NY LEP) became the first region to complete the move from an initial LEAR to LAEPs for all local authorities in their region, with ambitions to ‘Deliver a Carbon-Negative energy system in North Yorkshire’.

Energy Systems Catapult launched the Net Zero Go platform in March 2022 and one year on we have users from nearly 50% of all UK local authorities.

Whole Systems & Networks – equipped energy leaders with the evidence, insights and innovations needed to deliver the future Net Zero energy system.

Scottish Government and ClimateXChange (CXC) partnered with the Catapult to construct a set of country-specific scenarios to inform the energy, social, and economic policies required to achieve Scotland’s 2030 and 2045 decarbonisation goals.

The Energy System Digital Twin Demonstrator Project was the response. Over 12 months, the project developed two proof-of concept demonstrators: a visual demonstrator developed in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute and CityScape Digital, and a technical demonstrator developed by our core modelling capabilities.

The Catapult has been a leading contributor to the Government’s important Review of Electricity Market Arrangements delivering comprehensive modelling and qualitative analysis on locational pricing and providing evidence from markets across the US, New Zealand and Europe that use locational or zonal pricing.

Working with OVO Energy we developed an independent report to examine how energy retailers will need to rethink their approach to consumers – moving beyond maximising the sale of kWh, to helping customers navigate Net Zero.