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We're supporting clean technology innovation across the entire product development from research lifecycle, to overcoming the obstacles of investment right through to being market-ready.
Our support is accelerating the development of the new technologies we need to reach net zero.
Generating clean technology ideas comes through identifying problems and opportunities, as well as addressing gaps in the market. This can involve:
- market research
- technology scouting
- collaborating with experts to generate innovative concepts and approaches that assist in developing new clean technologies.
We recognise it is not easy to take a great idea to a commercial reality. That’s why we’re helping innovators who are starting out or looking to accelerate their idea with tools and networks to navigate the early stages of product development.
Our NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub is connecting government, industry and researchers to support and accelerate new clean technologies. We are also providing a free online training course to help you understand how to take your technology from idea to market.
Find out how you can take advantage of this support and free training.
Research helps us embrace creative new ideas. It enables us to better understand existing technologies, trends, challenges and emerging breakthroughs. It has the potential to solve specific problems and/or disrupt industries. Research is also involved in assessing the feasibility of proposed ideas such as:
- cost
- technical requirements
- intellectual property considerations and resource demands
- possible challenges and potential risks.
Research also extends to funding, market demand and regulatory compliance.
We want to make sure great ideas have the opportunity to prove their potential. We are investing $40 million in grants for research and development (R&D) of technologies, services or processes.
As promising clean technology ideas take form, they must be developed into a proof of concept by:
- building the initial proof of concept, called a prototype, and testing it for feasibility, functionality, and compliance
- developing the necessary enabling infrastructure to implement and test the idea, both in the laboratory and in real-world applications
- conducting commercial pilot studies and demonstrations of early prototypes. This informs ongoing enhancements and further testing to improve the final product and make sure it is ready for commercial markets.
We will be opening applications for round 2 funding later in 2023. We’re looking for more projects to join the 12 others we funded in round 1. Your idea could be the next one we help turbocharge.
Find out about round 2 funding and make sure you sign up to be notified when we open applications.
Once a clean technology idea and solution has been validated, plans are made to scale it up for wider adoption or deployment. This involves getting the solution ready for production, addressing scalability challenges, and setting up the necessary infrastructure and support systems for the solution once it is in the market.
The final challenge with all emerging technologies is getting the market to adopt. Our NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub is helping make connections that will help make adoption possible. However, if you have a commercially viable technology and are ready to take the next step, we want to help you scale up.
Overcoming the challenge of investment
All new clean technologies face challenges during development. One of those obstacles to overcome is attracting investment. There are 2 clear funding gaps often referred to by industry as ‘valleys of death’.
Technological valley
The first valley is after the research phase and during the test-and-build phase. At this point, funding can be challenging to attract when there may be nothing tangible to show yet.
Commercialisation valley
The second valley occurs after the test-and-build phase during deployment. At this point, funding can also be difficult to attract amid the challenges of scaling up the solution and bringing it to market.
The key to overcoming these obstacles is to prove the new clean technology’s cost-effectiveness, efficiency, scalability and user experience. To help achieve this, we’re providing funding to help create a clean technology community in NSW. This community will bring together incubators, pre-accelerators and accelerators to work with clean technology start-ups and researchers.
