Public support to clean energy technology start-ups : An international survey of practices and experiences

Abstract: Clean energy technologies will play a critical role in achieving net-zero 2050 ambitions globally. The clean energy technologies today in the prototype and demonstration stages of development will contribute to 50% emission reduction by 2050 in IEA’s net-zero emission pathway. Traditional industry sectors like iron and steel, cement etc. have not had any focus on research and development of commercialising decarbonisation technologies. To achieve the emission target, there is a need for innovation in developing and deploying new clean energy technologies as well as decarbonising existing technologies. In the past two decades, start-ups have resulted in disruptive innovation in clean energy and created a new space in the ecosystem for technology development. Private sector investments shy away from these clean energy hardware intensive start-ups as they involve high risks over long periods of development. Governments can fill this gap in the ecosystem by supporting not only technology development but also commercialisation and scaling up of the technologies. To do this effectively, there should be a shared international understanding on the different clean energy technology innovation support mechanisms across countries which have public backing. The thesis identifies the good practices across countries within 4 support mechanisms categories: financial, infrastructure and lab, services and networking. By conducting interviews with different government agencies, innovation intermediaries such as incubators and accelerators, and start-ups, the report presents various operational and implementation methods of different programmes and the challenges faced at each level in this ecosystem. The results provide examples of different support mechanisms in each category and the case studies illustrate how these mechanisms can be mixed and matched to meet the needs of the government agencies and ministries.