Description of the challenge 

Fuel Poverty has been a widespread and pervasive problem across the Outer Hebrides for many years. The Scottish House Condition Survey (2017-19) reported a fuel poverty rate of 40% in the Outer Hebrides compared to the average in Scotland of 24%. The region also had significantly higher extreme fuel poverty rates, 24%, double the national average of 12%. 

With the current rapid increase in energy prices, the incidence of fuel poverty in the region is set to increase and will have a dramatic impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of the Outer Hebrides. In addition, there is significant local generation of energy in the region, the majority of which is renewable electricity which is sold to the National Grid and transported to the UK mainland.
This pilot project hopes to reduce energy costs for local people by utilising locally generated energy to provide energy at a lower cost than is currently being paid by households and businesses.

For a full description of the challenge, please review the “Complete description of the challenge” document.

Why should you apply? 

• This is an opportunity to co-develop and validate your solution in a real-world context.  
• Receive €50,000 to develop your solution until November 2023
• Opportunity to network and learn from organisations across Europe who are also involved in energy transition

There is more information in the Outer Hebrides “Call for solutions” document.

Who can apply?

The following eligibility criteria apply:

• Applicants must be headquartered in eligible countries legally established as a business and based in an EU member state (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden) or H2020 associated country (United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia and Armenia).
• Applicants must be legal entities in a situation to receive public funding (Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty).
• Absence of double public funding. The very same project activities cannot receive other public funds.
• The application form can be submitted in the local language (English). The budget template and declaration of honour should be submitted in English. The submitted documentation should contain all requested elements specified. Incomplete proposals will not be taken into consideration.  
• Applications have to be submitted before the deadline stated in the call 15th of November of 2022, 17:00 CET
• Applications shall include a declaration of honour duly signed by the legal representative.
• Please note that the co- creation process will be carried out in English, so applicants must be able to communicate in that language.
• Application from consortiums will also be considered.

Application process

The call will be open for 2 months with the call closing on the 15th November 2022 at 1700 CET. Applications should be submitted to this email address by the time and date of the call closing: sarah.marshall@hient.co.uk.

All of the following documents need to be completed, failure to submit all necessary documents will result in the application being rejected.

• Application form
• Template for budget calculations
• Declaration of honour

Selection process

Applications will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria by a regional selection committee. Applications will be assessed individually by committee members and discussed during a collaborative assessment meeting. If it is difficult to decide between the top 3 applications, then these 3 potential solution providers will be invited to take part in oral presentations. 

Questions

Please submit your questions to sarah.marshall@hient.co.uk. Please note that all questions and related answers will be published in the RIPEET Outer Hebrides Call for Solutions FAQ document.

No questions have currently been submitted, this document will be updated with questions and their responses as they arise.​​​​​​​​​​​​​