4 Ways We Can Help Your Business Transition to Net-Zero

In the heart of Birmingham's industrial jungle, Webster & Horsfall Ltd have developed Tyseley Energy Park (TEP), an innovative 16-acre site committed to delivering low and zero-carbon power, transport, heat, waste, and recycling solutions for a greener, cleaner, healthier Birmingham.

In collaboration with the University of Birmingham, TEP supports novel innovations in waste, energy, and low-carbon vehicle systems.

The site comprises of:

10MW Waste Wood Biomass Power Plant
The UK’s first low and zero-carbon refuelling station
Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre (BEIC)
Incubation space to support SMEs and drive the commercialisation of innovative energy products and services.
Space for a proposed National Centre for the Decarbonisation of Heat (NCDH)

A key feature on the site is the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre (BEIC). This £8.5m investment is helping to deliver a greener and cleaner ecosystem for Birmingham and the West Midlands.

As part of our sponsorship of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce's 2022 Sustainable Business Series, the University of Birmingham and Tyseley Energy Park invited local businesses to tour the TEP site and learn more about how the University can support businesses on their journey to net zero.

A wide shot of the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre (BEIC) Building — Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre

Incubation Spaces to Develop Novel Solutions

TEP and the BEIC are at the forefront of collaborating with industry, with 150 businesses working together to generate innovative green solutions to tackle the climate emergency. The University of Birmingham offers shared workshop areas and a virtual presence at Tyseley Energy Park to support your needs. Businesses based at TEP also have access to secure and renewable power to enable them to grow their network and their ideas.

We are open to collaborating with other businesses and offer incubation spaces to help ideas grow. Such incubation spaces are available to businesses through two SME support programmes - the Climate Innovation Platform and the Energy Transition Centre. These programmes have been designed to provide businesses with access to packages of support that will drive the development of an SME’s low-carbon business offerings.

Through the Climate Innovation Platform, the University of Birmingham, in partnership with the Energy Systems Catapult, is looking for businesses committed to driving energy technology innovation. Supported by HSBC UK, CIP offers businesses a package of tailored support to drive the commercialisation of innovative energy products and services. This funded programme is available to SME’s at the beginning of their journey through to those ready for commercialisation.

The Energy Transition Centre (ETC), funded by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership supports SMEs seeking to establish their low-carbon business offering. The ETC offers a newly refurbished office, laboratory and industrial units for businesses that can build on the innovation and research activity located within the recently-constructed Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre (BEIC).

Attendees gather around listening to Martin Freer on a tour of the BEIC — The Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce's Sustainable Business Summit invited delegates for a tour of the BEIC

Transforming Energy Policy

The BEIC is finding new and innovative ways to turn waste into energy to achieve a net-zero circular economy. The £8.5m BEIC has been designed as a hub to promote innovation in waste, energy, and low-carbon vehicle systems. Funded by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP, the BEIC is helping to deliver a greener and cleaner ecosystem for Birmingham and the West Midlands.

The Birmingham Energy Institute draws on the broad capabilities and expertise at the University of Birmingham and its strong relationship with collaborators from academia and industry, to produce studies and policy documents addressing the challenges facing today’s energy system. Recently, they launched the Pathways for Local Heat Delivery Policy Commission report. This report examines all of the components required to deliver a local heat solution and the barriers that need removing. Using the City of Birmingham as a case study, the report sets out how regional government can support all sectors in planning, financing, and engaging consumers in transitioning to net zero.

Birmingham Energy Institute & Tyseley Energy Park logos graphic — An Introduction to Tyseley Energy Park

itle: Introduction to Tyseley Energy Park

Duration: 1.42 mins

Begins

[Aerial shot of a dual carriage way]

[Logo of University of Birmingham Energy Institute, Tyseley Energy Park]

[Professor Martin Freer] We're here at Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham.

This is a place which has a long history which goes back 300 years to the beginning of the industrial revolution, where a company called Webster and Horsfall have turned over their land to develop a place which brings together waste processing, clean energy production, and low emissions low carbon transport.

On the site here we have the UK's largest hydrogen refuelling station which will be servicing 20 buses for the City of Birmingham, providing clean transport for the citizens of Birmingham coming up to the Commonwealth Games. We've also developed a biomass plant which takes wood waste across the region, converts that wood waste into green electrons which feed activity on this energy park.

Behind me, we have the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre which is taking all of the advanced research that we do at the University of Birmingham locating it in this energy park to drive innovation in our energy system.

[Logo of University of Birmingham Energy Institute, Tyseley Energy Park

Ends

Funding Opportunities for your Business' Net Zero Transition

Everyone is feeling the effect of rising energy bills, businesses included. Therefore, protecting your business and supporting your net-zero journey is crucial. The University of Birmingham, in partnership with the Energy Systems Catapult, is looking for businesses committed to driving energy technology innovation to join the Climate Innovation Platform. The Climate Innovation Platform supports your business by identifying grant funding opportunities, routes into investor networks, and identifies opportunities to gain access to supply chain partners to support the development of scalable market entry demonstrators.

Your business will also get access to business engagement support through the University of Birmingham’s ATETA programme, which is designed to help SMEs improve efficiency and test new ideas by offering access to research expertise, world-leading facilities and technical support from Knowledge Exchange Fellows.

Be Part of the Green Energy & Innovation Quarter

TEP sits in the heart of the Tyseley Environmental Enterprise District, an area that will become Birmingham’s Green Energy & Innovation Quarter by building on a high concentration of green energy businesses within a neighbourhood that is embedding a net zero and sustainable approach in all aspects of urban life, creating a unique ecosystem for the area.

To support this ambition, TEP is welcoming expressions of interest to let Phase Three of the site. The 8500mᵌ (2.1acre) plot has the potential to become a once-in-a-generation development site for the low-carbon sector and already benefits from planning permission. The land would be suitable for a range of low-carbon technologies as well as new waste and sustainable energy technologies.

You can apply and find out more information by contacting David Horsfall, Director of Property for TEP or visit www.tyseleyenergy.co.uk. More information can be found by downloading the Phase 3 Tyseley Energy Park brochure.