Government pledges £77m to green innovation

The government has announced £77m in new funding for projects developing clean transport technologies.

The schemes, which range from work on battery-powered buses, to a hydrogen-powered version of the Ford Transit van, will support more than 4,400 jobs across the UK over the next decade.

Joint government and industry funding winners include Hyer Power-ULEMCO, which won£7.9m backing to develop a hydrogen fuel cell range extender for electric vehicles used for specialised purposes, such as ambulances, fire engines and street sweepers.

Meanwhile, HEIDI – Bramble Energy secured £12.7m for work to demonstrate a novel fuel cell/battery hybrid powertrain on a double-decker bus and 0 – Ford Motor Company was awarded£16.3m to design and develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered version of the Ford Transit van, which will initially be produced at Ford Dagenham.

The funding has been awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Collaborative Research and Development programme. A total of £38.4m of this investment comes from government, backed by a further £38.7m from the automobile industry.

Industry and Economic Security Minister Nusrat Ghani said: “Our automotive industry keeps setting the pace globally and seizing the potential of new technologies. Today’s multi-million-pound boost will help them stay ahead of international competition, while delivering on our priority to grow the economy and support high-quality jobs.”