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Organisations can apply for a share of £150,000 for ideas to develop a smart energy system that links Perth and Kinross Council buildings.

Perth and Kinross Council is to invest up to £150,000 in a series of studies to develop a smart energy network for its estate.

The system should manage and control:

• the generation of renewable energy
• the storage and use of renewable energy
• trade of any excess energy, both within and outside of the council

It could involve generating energy at a school, and then using and storing that energy at another building, such as a care home.

The best ideas could receive further funding to develop and test them in a second phase.

Funding is under SBRI (the Small Business Research Initiative) and supported by the CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund for business innovation across Scotland.

Find out more about SBRI and how it works.

Solutions should reduce costs and emissions

The council is looking for ideas that would reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions. They should also explore how new income could be generated through energy storage assets.

Proposed solutions must:

• develop local renewable capacity and storage
• develop an energy management platform
• offer communication with and control of all the network’s generation and storage
• be able to trade across the network
• investigate and develop potential income from sales of stored electricity

Competition information

• the competition opens on 20 August 2018, and the deadline for registration is at midday on 10 October 2018
• any organisation that can demonstrate a route to market for its idea can apply
• we expect phase 1 contracts to be worth up to £30,000 and to last up to 6 months
• we expect phase 2 contracts to be worth up to £175,000 and to last up to 18 months
• successful projects will attract 100% funded development contracts
• there will be a briefing event on 28 August 2018, where you can find out more about the competition and how to submit a quality application

Find out more about this competition and apply.