Ofwat has confirmed its plans to launch an innovation competition, with up to £200 million available between 2020 and 2025.
The competition was confirmed today and sets out the regulators PR19 final price determinations.
This is fantastic news for technology providers, such as ATi UK, that collaborate to develop new industry innovations. ATi UK are widely seen as the global leaders in smart water quality technology, working closely with our customers and partners to develop new solutions to reduce leakages, build resilience, improve CMEGS and increase the life of assets.
The report states the regulator will make £200 million available through an
innovation competition to encourage “companies to collaborate with each other
and with other companies in their supply chains. We will work with companies
and other stakeholders to set this up in a way that benefits customers as much as
possible. We are also using markets and competition to drive improvements and
innovation. In our future work, we will continue to reflect on the ways
regulation can make innovation possible” the document states.
As innovative collaborators in the supply chain, ATi UK has worked hard over the last couple of years to deliver smart water quality technology and over the next 12 months, customers will be evaluating the results of trials and looking to upscale these solutions. Water companies will now be able to put forward proposals for innovative projects to be funded through the mechanism.
“In order to be eligible for funding, companies entering the competition would need to contribute to project costs, and projects and allocation of funding from the ring-fenced pot would need to be assessed by an independent expert entity against our final key principles for financial support. Only companies which are successful in their bids would then be awarded funding,” Ofwat said.