The government is pledging £49.4 million towards helping British industry reduce energy costs and end its reliance on fossil fuels.

It said that the funding will back the development of fuel switching technology and help drive growth by attracting private investment.

The money, available through the second phase of the £55 million Industrial Fuel Switching competition, will be dished out to projects across a number of industries, including steel, ceramics, pharmaceuticals and food production.

“We’re investing nearly £50 million to back British industry, making sure they’re fit for the future and helping end their dependency on expensive fossil fuels,” said business and energy minister Lord Callanan. “Developing fuel switching technology will make this possible, accelerating the transition to cleaner fuels across our economy, and driving down costs for businesses.”

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said that industrial fuel switching shifts industrial energy use from high carbon to low carbon fuels, with the aim of decarbonising industry in line with the UK’s target of reaching Net Zero by 2050.

Fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil made up around 55 per cent of industrial consumption in 2019.

Previous winners under the first phase of the competition included: projects helping the ceramics, food production and steel sectors become powered by hydrogen instead of natural gas; technology to develop heat pumps for food and pharmaceutical businesses; and studies exploring switching glass making facilities from natural gas to gasified waste and biomass

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