Ofwat has published a paper setting out the process it followed for its Water Breakthrough Challenge 4 innovation competition (Breakthrough 4) and the reasons for its funding decisions.
Ofwat opened Breakthrough 4 in September 2023 and invited water companies, in partnership with others, to enter two streams of the competition.
The Catalyst Stream for entries valued between £150,000 and up to £2 million. The primary aim of the Catalyst stream is to encourage new ways of working that go beyond business-as-usual innovation practices in the water sector, in particular, increasing and improving collaboration and building partnerships from within and outside the water sector.
The Transform Stream for entries valued between £2 million and up to £10 million. The primary aim of the Transform stream is to spark ambitious innovation and enable new approaches and ways of working; equipping the water sector to address the big challenges facing the sector, driving far-reaching and long-lasting benefits to customers, society and the environment across England and Wales now and into the future.
In total approximately £40 million was made available across both streams.
The Catalyst stream opened on 5 September 2023 and closed for entries on 3 January 2024, with 13 winners announced on 16 May 2024. The Transform stream opened on 5 September 2023 and closed for stage 1 entries on 19 October 2023. Stage 2 opened on 16 November 2023 and closed for entries on 10 January 2024. Ofwat announced the four winners on 16 May 2024.
The paper sets out the process for each stream and outlines the projects which were selected for funding, together with the level of funding awards.
Feedback has been provided to unsuccessful entrants with suggested areas of improvement should they wish to re-submit their project to future competition rounds.
According to Ofwat, there remain significant untapped opportunities for companies to work with each other, the supply chain and those in other sectors to trial and adopt new practices and technologies to transform performance.
Click here to download the paper
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