IDRIC

What IDRIC does

IDRIC (Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre) is a UK publicly funded research and innovation centre founded in 2021 and hosted at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. It functions as the UK government's designated focal point for industrial decarbonisation research, operating within the £210m UKRI Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC). The centre coordinates a network of 246 partners spanning 46 research institutions, 7 UK industrial clusters (Scotland, Tees Valley, Black Country, South Wales, Northwest, Solent, and Humber), industry, government, and trade bodies. Its research is structured around nine Multidisciplinary Integrated Programmes (MIPs) covering CCUS, hydrogen systems, negative emission technologies, industrial heat, circular economy, electrification, and policy/knowledge exchange.

IDRIC's portfolio consists of research outputs and platforms rather than commercial products. It has delivered 100+ research projects between 2021 and 2025, including targeted initiatives such as the MaritimeTwin digital twin for shipping emissions (with CGI and Maritime UK, £1m+ Innovate UK funding) and MaxStoreUK (led by British Geological Survey, commenced October 2025) for CO2 and hydrogen subsurface storage. Knowledge assets include the Knowledge Hub (150+ journal articles, 47+ reports, 29+ webinars, 21+ policy briefs), the Net Zero Industry Interactive Landscape visualisation tool, the Policy Hub, and the Frontiers Report Series. The Early Career Research Academy (ECRA) supports talent pipeline development.

IDRIC does not generate commercial revenue. Its funding model is grant-based: £20m+ from UKRI at launch (2021), £1m from EPSRC (March 2024), and £1m+ from Innovate UK for MaritimeTwin (2024). Research outputs, policy briefings, and knowledge resources are provided free to partners and the public. The customer base is effectively a stakeholder ecosystem — research institutions, government departments (DESNZ), energy-intensive industries (metals, chemicals, ceramics, glass, oil refining), and policy bodies — rather than paying customers. IDRIC's governance is structured around UKRI as the primary funder, with an Independent Advisory Board providing cross-cluster oversight.

Name

IDRIC

Legal name

Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC)

Website

https://idric.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

IDRIC is the UK government-funded research and innovation centre coordinating 246 partners across 46 research institutions and 7 industrial clusters to deliver multidisciplinary industrial decarbonisation research, policy, and knowledge exchange, hosted at Heriot-Watt University.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Funding: IDRIC is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC). The centre receives grants to conduct research, stakeholder engagement, and policy support for industrial decarbonisation. Additional funding of £1 million was received from EPSRC in 2024 to support research continuation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

IDRIC is a UK research and innovation centre funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) that coordinates multidisciplinary research on industrial decarbonisation. It delivers research projects, knowledge platforms, policy outputs, and stakeholder engagement programmes to support decarbonisation of UK industrial clusters. The centre operates nine Multidisciplinary Integrated Programmes covering CCUS, hydrogen, electrification, negative emission technologies, and policy frameworks.

Product overview

IDRIC (Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre) is the UK's focal point for green transformation in industrial heartlands, funded by UKRI. Rather than a commercial product company, IDRIC operates as a research and innovation coordination hub delivering multidisciplinary solutions for industrial decarbonisation. Its portfolio includes research projects (100 projects across 9 Multidisciplinary Integrated Programmes), specialised projects (MaritimeTwin digital twin for maritime decarbonisation, MaxStoreUK for CO2/hydrogen geological storage), knowledge platforms (Knowledge Hub with 267+ resources, Policy Hub), visualisation tools (Net Zero Industry Interactive Landscape), career development (Early Career Research Academy), and strategic publications (Frontiers Report Series, Research and Innovation Agenda). The centre collaborates with industry, academia, government, and policymakers across 7 UK industrial clusters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MaritimeTwin A digital twin and satellite technology solution for the maritime sector focused on vessel route optimisation and environmental impact assessment. It processes real-time environmental data including weather patterns, ocean currents, and port conditions, using machine-learning algorithms to balance operational efficiency with environmental impact, with the ability to continuously learn and offer more precision.
• MaxStoreUK A research project led by the British Geological Survey (BGS) investigating the UK's subsurface resource for storage of CO2 and hydrogen, building on six prior IDRIC research projects on geological storage.
• Knowledge Hub A comprehensive, fully-searchable hub curating outputs from all IDRIC projects including journal articles (150+), reports (47+), webinars/videos (29+), policy briefs (21+), and other resources across multiple research themes, providing accessible resources to stakeholders worldwide.
• Policy Hub A platform providing policy briefings, in-depth policy analysis from the IDRIC Policy Team and academic partners, policy prioritisation questionnaires, and monthly policy news updates to support evidence-based policy development.
• Net Zero Industry Interactive Landscape An interactive visualisation tool allowing users to explore IDRIC-funded research projects, their connections, and how they are driving innovation towards a sustainable industrial future, with newly added maritime features.
• Nine Multidisciplinary Integrated Programmes (MIPs) IDRIC's research programme grouped into nine MIPs addressing key challenges: System Planning (MIP1), Infrastructure (MIP2), Operating net zero clusters (MIP3), Scale up opportunities (MIP4), Energy vectors (MIP5), CCUS deployment (MIP6), Hydrogen systems (MIP7), Negative Emission Technologies (MIP8), and Policy/Knowledge Exchange/Skills (MIP9).
• Frontiers Report Series A series of reports synthesizing key findings from multiple IDRIC projects, providing comprehensive perspectives on specific aspects of industrial decarbonisation with evidence-based recommendations for stakeholders.
• Early Career Research Academy (ECRA) A programme supporting early career researchers through training, funding opportunities, a Slack community, quarterly newsletter, and career coaching, designed and led by ECRs themselves.
• Research and Innovation Agenda for Net Zero Industries A stakeholder-informed framework outlining key research and innovation priorities for UK net zero targets across technology, environment, society, and economy, with enablers and funding mechanisms.
• IDRIC Annual Conference Annual conference bringing together industry, academia, and policymakers to discuss industrial decarbonisation. The 2026 conference was held on 7th May in Manchester with speakers from EET, Hydrogen UK, CCSA, and other organisations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100 research projects delivered between 2021 and 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CGIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024CGI collaborated with IDRIC and Maritime UK on the MaritimeTwin project, developing an innovative digital twin solution for the maritime sector. The project received over £1 million in UK Government funding.
• Maritime UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Maritime UK partnered with IDRIC and CGI on the MaritimeTwin project, developing digital twin and satellite technology solutions for maritime emissions reduction.
• Heriot-Watt UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Heriot-Watt University is the host institution for IDRIC. Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer serves as IDRIC Director while also Director of the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS) at Heriot-Watt University.
• British Geological SurveycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021BGS leads the MaxStoreUK project investigating UK's subsurface storage resource for CO2 and hydrogen, building on six prior IDRIC research projects.
• Swansea UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Swansea University is a key academic partner in IDRIC's research network, contributing to multidisciplinary research projects on industrial decarbonisation.
• Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Imperial College London participates in IDRIC's research network, contributing expertise to the multidisciplinary approach to industrial decarbonisation.
• NECCUScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021NECCUS is the alliance for industrial decarbonisation in Scotland, representing Scottish industrial decarbonisation interests within IDRIC's stakeholder network.
• Hydrogen UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Hydrogen UK is the UK trade association for hydrogen, working with IDRIC on hydrogen deployment for industrial decarbonisation.
• Carbon Capture and Storage AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021CCSA works with IDRIC on carbon capture, utilisation and storage research and deployment strategies.
• Glass Futures LtdcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Glass Futures is a key industry partner contributing to research on decarbonising the glass sector.
• Make UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Make UK represents UK manufacturing and works with IDRIC on industrial decarbonisation policy and implementation.
• Tata SteelcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Tata Steel is a major industrial partner contributing to research on steel sector decarbonisation pathways.
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021DESNZ is the government department responsible for industrial decarbonisation policy, working closely with IDRIC on policy development and implementation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights12 records

Broad incumbents

• WSP: Global professional services consultancy with dedicated energy and climate transition practices serving industrial clients on decarbonisation strategy, CCUS, hydrogen, and infrastructure. Overlapping domain coverage with IDRIC's research areas but commercially structured with global delivery.
• Wood plc: Global engineering and consulting firm with extensive energy transition, CCUS, hydrogen, and industrial decarbonisation practice. Comparable in the technology domains covered (CCUS, hydrogen, energy vectors) but much larger commercial consultancy with global client base across oil & gas, chemicals, and power.
• Mott MacDonald: Global engineering, management and development consultancy with significant energy transition and industrial decarbonisation practice. Overlaps with IDRIC's infrastructure (MIP2), CCUS (MIP6) and policy work, but operates commercially across many sectors globally rather than as a focused UK research centre.
• Ricardo plc: Global engineering consultancy with established industrial decarbonisation, hydrogen, and CCUS practices serving automotive, energy, and industrial clients. Overlapping capability set with IDRIC's MIPs but operating as a commercial consultancy with global delivery, not a publicly-funded research hub.

Direct peers

• UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC): UKRI-funded research centre coordinating multidisciplinary energy research across UK universities. Most directly comparable peer — same UKRI funding model, same academic network structure, same policy-research integration mission, though with broader energy scope rather than industrial decarbonisation specifically.
• Carbon Trust: Mission-driven organisation advising businesses, governments and organisations on decarbonisation and sustainability. Comparable as a coordinating body translating decarbonisation research into actionable programmes for industrial and commercial actors; more commercial in its service model than IDRIC.
• Energy Systems Catapult: UK innovation catapult focused on accelerating innovation in energy systems. Directly comparable as a publicly-funded UK innovation hub bridging research, industry and government; both serve as focal coordination bodies for UK clean-tech innovation ecosystems.
• Faraday Institution: UK's primary institute for electrochemical energy storage research, funded through UKRI's Faraday Battery Challenge. Closely comparable operational model — UKRI-funded research hub coordinating multi-university projects with industry partners to accelerate technology deployment in a specific industrial application area.
• Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research: Multi-university UK climate change research centre producing interdisciplinary research for policy and industry. Comparable in its mission to deliver actionable climate science across technology, policy and economics; differs in scope (broader climate vs. industrial decarbonisation) and lack of explicit industrial-cluster focus.
• ERM (Environmental Resources Management): Global sustainability consultancy advising major industrial clients on decarbonisation strategy, environmental compliance, and ESG transformation. Comparable in serving energy-intensive industries on decarbonisation pathways, though operating commercially rather than as a publicly-funded research hub.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@idric1529
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/idricuk
• Xx.com/IDRICUK

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about IDRIC