British climate tech start-up IPG Energy has secured a £50,000 grant to work with the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) to build a manufacturing blueprint for its climate tech product, the pollutant-free and fuel-agnostic IPG Flameless Generator.

The grant is part of the Connected Places Catapult which is working alongside industry and academic partners to deliver the Clean Futures Accelerator, supporting the West Midlands' transport sector as it transitions away from a reliance on fossil fuels.

IPG Energy is one of 40 high-growth SMEs awarded a grant to undertake a six-month project answering one of the accelerator's challenges focused on electric vehicle (EV) rollout and future fuels.

The project will use the AME's digital manufacturing expertise to detail an optimised 10,000 sq ft assembly facility for producing up to 1000 units of the climate technology product, benchmarked against IPG Energy's existing assembly facility capable of delivering up to 50 units per year. This will ensure that IPG Energy can scale production both domestically and globally with minimal capital outlay, maximising production capability within any given facility.

As a long-standing partner with the AME, the grant is valuable for IPG Energy as the digital simulation model will form a significant part of the collaborative goal of building the full digital twin of the IPG Flameless Generator. The completed blueprint will support low-risk, cost-effective scaled production which will allow the product to deliver on growing customer demand in the construction market and in future markets, such as EV charging, which require clean, on-demand power from any fuel.

IPG Energy will use its current assembly procedures, layouts and tooling to begin the creation and work closely with the AME to review the simulation as it progresses. It will feed designs for assembly (DfA) and designs for manufacture (DfM).

Commenting on the grant, Toby Gill, CEO of IPG Energy says, "We have seen early evidence, through our work with National Highways in which we validated our technology for unlocking EV charging in grid-constrained locations, of how EV charging can be a future market for IPG Energy.

"Winning this grant demonstrates that our product continues to be seen as a solution poised to deliver real impact in this market for bringing EV charging to the West Midlands and the wider UK wherever grid constraints are a barrier to scaling EV charge points.

"Demand for EV charging is set to grow exponentially in the coming years so there will be a lot of opportunity for us to deliver impact in future markets like this, beyond our work to replace the diesel generator where our technology is used today," he adds.

Dr Marcos Kauffman of the AME comments: "We have been working with IPG Energy for a while now, and are excited to continue to share our expertise in digital manufacturing to help them accelerate their manufacturing readiness to deliver real impact in unlocking off-grid EV charging in the West Midlands and beyond.

"I am looking forward to bringing our track record of working with the industry, and our capabilities in digital manufacturing and twinning, to accelerate the manufacture of the IPG Flameless Generator."