Public sector issues prior information notice for industrial decarbonisation research consortium
New research programme will gather evidence on fuel switching, resource efficiency and carbon capture to guide future industrial decarbonisation policy.
New research programme will gather evidence on fuel switching, resource efficiency and carbon capture to guide future industrial decarbonisation policy.
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Evidence, not aspiration, sits at the heart of a new industrial decarbonisation push from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero. A prior information notice published on 22nd January 2026 signals plans for a consortium-led research programme to build the evidence base for fuel switching, resource efficiency, carbon capture and lifecycle impacts across the industrial sector, with a strong focus on stakeholder engagement and policy relevance.
Through its Industrial Decarbonisation Research notice, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) signals an intention to commission a wide-ranging evidence programme. The department is seeking a consortium to design and deliver research that tackles some of the hardest questions in cutting emissions from industrial activity.
The notice highlights four core areas that the programme will need to address:
Taken together, these themes point to a system-wide view of industrial decarbonisation. Rather than focusing on a single technology, DESNZ is asking for evidence on how energy sources, materials flows, and carbon management interact across complex value chains.
The programme is described as a set of work packages, indicating a modular approach where different research strands feed into an overarching evidence base. This structure should make it easier to plug emerging findings into live policy questions as they arise.
The model echoes other research efforts across the central government. In September 2025, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out a multi-year Domestic Combustion Research Program, built around four interlinked work packages to improve the evidence base on solid fuel burning emissions and inform policy development. A month earlier, in August 2025, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) launched a Resource Efficiency Market Development contract to identify interventions that could help form markets for low-carbon, resource-efficient materials and circular business models. DESNZ's new industrial programme sits squarely within this broader shift towards structured, policy-facing research.
The notice makes clear that DESNZ is looking for a consortium, rather than a single supplier. That choice points to the breadth of expertise the department expects to need, from technical analysis and modelling through to stakeholder engagement and policy translation.
Stakeholder engagement is explicitly part of the brief. The successful consortium will be expected to work with industrial stakeholders and other interested parties to test assumptions, gather practical insights and ensure that research questions reflect real operational challenges. That engagement is essential if recommendations on fuel switching or carbon capture are to be realistic for plants facing tight margins, technical constraints and evolving market conditions.
Ensuring policy relevance is another central requirement. The research will need not only to generate robust data, but also to frame that evidence in ways that can inform regulatory design, funding schemes and wider industrial strategy. That implies a close relationship between the research team and officials, with regular feedback loops as the programme progresses.
The demand for this blend of skills is visible elsewhere in DESNZ's portfolio. On 14th January 2026, the department published a pre-procurement notice for ICF Legal Support Services, seeking a supplier to provide specialist foreign, corporate and commercial law advice for its International Climate Finance portfolio. Taken together, the two notices show a department leaning on external technical and legal expertise to shape both its domestic decarbonisation agenda and its international climate finance activities.
Similar patterns are evident internationally. In August 2025, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH issued a Renewable Energy Policy Advisory Services contract to support techno-commercial analyses and improve policymaking in selected Indian states, with an emphasis on gender-responsive solutions and socio-economic development. Two months later, in October 2025, a Support for Clean Energy Solutions contract commissioned by Palladium International Limited sought expert support to deploy battery energy storage systems across five Indian states, combining feasibility studies, site identification, financial modelling and capacity building with local electricity distribution companies. In each case, public bodies are relying on consortia that can span technical depth and stakeholder engagement.
Industrial decarbonisation research may sit upstream of individual investments, but its findings will feed directly into the kinds of projects now appearing in procurement pipelines. Public buyers across Europe are designing schemes whose success depends on credible analysis of fuel choices, energy efficiency and lifecycle impacts.
In August 2025, Green Future 1 Sp. z o.o. launched a Technical Consultancy for Solar Heat Plant covering design services for a solar heat plant within an integrated network aimed at decarbonising district heating. Questions of system integration, technology performance and long-term carbon savings sit at the core of that commission – the same sorts of issues DESNZ wants explored for industrial processes.
Two months later, in October 2025, ARAP Abruzzo opened a competitive dialogue procedure under its Green Revolution and Ecological Transition initiative, seeking investment in renewable energy production on disused industrial sites. Successful bidders there will also need solid evidence on technology options and lifecycle emissions to make the case for repurposing brownfield land.
In November 2025, Elliniki Etaireia Symmetochon kai Periousias A.E. (ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΕΤΑΙΡΕΙΑ ΣΥΜΜΕΤΟΧΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΟΥΣΙΑΣ A.E.) went to market for Consultants for Decarbonization Projects, combining legal, economic and technical services to support projects financed through Decarbonization and Modernization Funds. The brief spans renewable energy, energy autonomy and modernisation of infrastructure, underscoring the need for advice that cuts across regulation, finance and engineering.
Most recently, on 19th January 2026, Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA) published a Digital Energy Business Trip Initiative under the Energy Export Initiative, aiming to help German companies enter foreign markets through digital business trips focused on energy efficiency in New Zealand. While framed as export promotion, it reinforces how expertise in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies is now central to economic strategy as well as climate policy.
The emphasis on data and analysis is not limited to energy. On 28th January 2026, Scottish Enterprise issued a contract notice for Scotland's Risk Capital Data Analysis, seeking datasets and analysis to benchmark Scotland's risk capital market against other UK regions. It reflects a wider public-sector move towards evidence-based intervention design, into which DESNZ's industrial research programme neatly fits.
Closer to home, local authorities and housing providers are developing decarbonisation schemes that depend on the technologies and supply chains affected by industrial emissions policy.
In August 2025, the London Borough of Lewisham published a prior information notice for Decarbonisation Works for Housing on the Pepys Estate, focused on retrofit upgrades and installations linked to energy efficiency and sustainability. The following month, in September 2025, ateb Housing Group Ltd signalled plans for an ateb Renewables Framework to support a range of retrofit and decarbonisation works in West Wales as part of its net zero objectives.
Transport and local energy systems are also in scope. In August 2025, Transport for London sought market feedback for its Electric Vehicle Charge Points Project, aiming to increase the availability of rapid charge points for zero-emission capable taxis. And in January 2026, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council outlined its plans for an Oldham Green New Deal Partnership, a long-term energy partnership to decarbonise local energy infrastructure and support community wellbeing.
These local and regional plans rely on reliable technologies, robust supply chains and credible carbon metrics. Decisions on which materials to specify in housing retrofits, what charging hardware to install on busy streets, or how to structure local energy partnerships are all influenced by the kinds of evidence DESNZ now wants to assemble on fuel switching, resource efficiency, carbon capture and lifecycle assessment in the industrial sector.
As a prior information notice, DESNZ's Industrial Decarbonisation Research initiative is still at an early stage. The short notice text does not specify value, timelines or procurement route, but the direction is clear: future decisions on industrial emissions will be grounded in a structured, stakeholder-rich evidence base rather than isolated studies.
For research organisations, consultancies and industrial partners, the signal is that government is looking for integrated answers that cut across the full range of decarbonisation options. How DESNZ ultimately defines its work packages, balances technical depth with policy usability, and builds in stakeholder engagement will determine how influential the programme becomes in shaping industrial and climate policy.
For the wider public sector, the notice is another sign that major decarbonisation initiatives – from local retrofit schemes to international climate finance portfolios – will increasingly rest on dedicated research consortia and long-term evidence programmes. The evolution from this early market sounding to a full competition will be one to watch for anyone with an interest in industrial decarbonisation and the policies that govern it.
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