Digital solutions for energy transition and manufacturing

To be eligible, your business must:   

• Be a small or medium-sized enterprise
• Be registered, trading, or have a strategic presence in Scotland
• Be able to support the delivery of a pilot during quarters two, three, and four of 2025/26

You must also be committed to fair working practices. This means work must offer all individuals an effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment, and respect. It also includes paying employees at least the real Living Wage. 

You can find out more about fair working practices and access free resources using the Fair Work Employer Support Toolopens in a new window.

Challenge one

The Scottish textiles industry is looking for a secure, scalable, low-resource digital solution to meet EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements. This needs traceability and sustainability data throughout the product lifecycle.

Your solution must be adaptable to work with diverse business needs and evolving regulations. It should also integrate seamlessly with existing systems.

It should be intuitive for internal users and enable both business to business (B2B) secure data exchange and business to consumer (B2C) storytelling. It should also empower brands to share their authenticity and Scottish provenance with consumers – ensuring transparency across complex supply chains.

Challenge two

A renewable energy company is seeking a unified, trustworthy method for measuring, verifying, and sharing energy performance data across any installation. 

Challenge three 

Energy operators and supply chain need a secure way to share and analyse decarbonisation and other performance and maintenance data across the offshore energy industry. This will improve benchmarking, reduce costs and optimise operations without compromising data confidentiality, commercial sensitivity or regulatory compliance. 

Challenge four

A renewable technology manufacturer needs a digital solution to consolidate and optimise shared performance and maintenance data within an integrated renewable energy heating system.

As part of the solution, a bespoke sensor bus system with more than 100 sensors to track flow rates, temperatures and pressure is also needed.

Challenge five

An electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure provider needs a scalable, tamper-proof monitoring system to manage a growing network of high-power, edge-connected chargers deployed at remote, low-connectivity fleet sites.

The system will need secure provisioning, safety monitoring, and software updates that preserve uptime and local autonomy. It also needs to track the status of each charger, deliver updates under intermittent connectivity conditions, and maintain immutable records for compliance and audit.

You'll need a bespoke solution for this challenge. You'll also need to work with embedded systems teams and delivery a domain-aware, field-proven system designed for real-word EV charging conditions.

Challenge six

An electronics manufacturer requires a robust digital solution to authenticate and track components across increasingly distributed supply chains, ensuring end-to-end transparency throughout the product lifecycle.

Your solution must enable secure data sharing among multiple supply chain partners, support the verification of product authenticity to combat counterfeiting, strengthen regulatory compliance, and enhance supply chain resilience. Ultimately, it will drive greater efficiency and trust across operations.

Check back here regularly for further updates on each of the challenges.

Applying for multiple challenges

Your digital company may apply to provide a solution to more than one challenge. Please note that you’ll need a separate application form for each challenge.

Companies can only be successful in one application. Further details can be found on the application form. 

Phase two will be open for applications from 26 June 2025 until 31 July 2025. 

Successful companies will be expected to work on their projects between September 2025 and March 2026.

All projects must be completed, including evaluations, by 31 March 2026. 

There's up to £50,000 available to each project.

This is in line with the UK subsidy control rules on Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA), as these will apply when funding is awarded to you.

You'll be asked to provide details of any other recent funding received as MFA or as de minimis.

In line with UK subsidy control rules, we can't award you any grant that would cause you to exceed your minimal financial assistance allowance of £315,000 (or your de minimis threshold, if applicable). This relates to the period covering the current and previous two financial years.

You must also not have started the project, or committed to any project costs, before a grant funding contract is signed.

The amount you receive will depend on the solution your company provides.

Learn more about Minimum Financial Assistance for companies 

This grant can cover up to 100% of your eligible project costs. Eligible costs include:

• Salary costs
• Materials
• Sub-contract charges
• Consultancy fees

For more details, check our guidance on eligible project costs.

Projects must be completed in full by 31 March 2026, and all costs should be paid for by that date. 

We're looking for digital companies that can provide a solution to the challenges presented by energy and manufacturing companies.  

The digital companies will work with an assigned phase one company during the project to conduct assessments based on: 

• Design
• Technical feasibility
• Financial feasibility 

These assessments will help inform the creation of products and services that can provide a solution to the challenge presented. 

Your application must include, but doesn't need to be limited to, a blockchain-based solution.