Business Secretary and COP26 President Alok Sharma has announced a £36.7m investment to design, test and manufacture electric machines.

Of this, £30m will be used to create four new industrialisation centres - based in Newport, Nottingham, Strathclyde and Sunderland – to research and develop green electric machines including planes, ships and cars. Funded through UK Research and Innovation’s Driving the Electric Revolution challenge, the network will specialise in researching and developing technologies to electrify transport.

A further £6.7m will be awarded to 14 projects that will help ensure the final buyer in supply chains – such as large automotive manufacturers – can access the parts and components they need to develop electric machines with ease.

Sharma said: “The electric revolution is an opportunity for our transport sectors to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. The UK is leading the way in developing cleaner technologies to help us reach our target of zero emissions by 2050 and these new centres will play an important part in that.”

More than 30 partner research and technology organisations will be a part of the industrialisation centres. The network will be headed up by lead partner Newcastle University, along with 21 other universities from around the UK, plus 13 research and technology organisations including the Compound Semiconductor Applications, High Value Manufacturing and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapults – and will be essential in attracting both foreign direct investment and new, innovative entrants into this space.

the Driving the Electrical Revolution Challenge (DER), which will provide an essential element in the successful development of UK PEMD supply chain capability. We also welcome the creation of DER centres which will play an important role by helping the supply chain to access both manufacturing process development and scale up and test capabilities.”

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