Aii kicked-off its Deployment Gap Grant plan for decarbonisation with a supplier-focused event in India. It said participants explored projects and solutions with the goal of finding the best fits.
It believes its new Deployment Gap Grant (DGG), which is a new financial mechanism for the textile sector will enable a wide deployment of decarbonisation technologies.
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Aii explained: “Many impactful carbon-reduction projects cannot be implemented if the ROI exceeds two years. In response, we co-created a grant mechanism that bridges the gap between suppliers’ two-year ROI threshold and the longer payback period of proven decarbonisation technologies, enabling their wider deployment.”
Aii has spent 100 days working with suppliers not only to design the
mechanism but also to define grant-eligible technologies and projects and
create a reporting process.
It collaborated with brands to determine what their contributions to this
mechanism could look like and how the funding should be disbursed.
Aii also defined the benefits of a shared funding model: By pooling funds across brands, it aims to not only scale deployment of decarbonisation solutions but also maximise the number of funded projects through collaboration.
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By GlobalDataAii described this as a “cost-effective approach to mobilise brand funding to implement projects in supplier pipelines that remain stalled due to long payback periods”.
Aii also shared that through its Fashion Climate Fund it has contributed $1m of seed funding to pilot the mechanism with eligible suppliers that attended its initial event in India.
As part of the pilot Aii will be supporting these projects:
● Welspun will be installing a renewable energy-powered hot water heat
pump to meet its process steam requirements. This initiative will avoid
the current dependence on fossil energy-based steam and help to lower
GHG emissions
● SRG has spent the past year reducing its steam demand, making it
possible to power the facility with a hot water heat pump, which – without
the DGG – would have a significant payback time. The facility will be
sourcing 75% of its needed electricity from solar PV and corporate
renewable electricity by the end of the project and 100% shortly thereafter.
● Trident Ltd will be installing solar sludge dryers with automated climate
control. These dryers use sunlight captured in a transparent shed to
evaporate moisture from wet sludge, and are less energy-intensive and
fossil fuel-dependent than conventional sludge drying for this purpose. This
project will support India’s dual agenda of electrification and decarbonisation.
What’s next for Aii’s Deployment Gap Grant?
Aii plans to compile learnings from its upcoming pilots to develop the Deployment Gap Grant into an industry mechanism for 2026. It will be specifically looking to support processing retrofits that reduce process demand for energy and electrification projects.
When it launches in 2026, most of the grant funding will be reserved for suppliers connected to contributing brands, with a smaller portion available for the broader industry.
Eligible projects will focus on technologies it has identified as key to prepare suppliers for electrification and Aii will communicate 2026 grant application information as it becomes available.
Aii added: “The Deployment Gap Grant is part of a suite of tools to support supplier decarbonisation, as outlined in our Finance Playbook. Historically, the industry has lacked a tool that supported project viability for suppliers. Aii’s hope is that DGGs not only scale the deployment of impactful and proven solutions, but also, over time, decrease the cost of these technologies through increased deployment and sectoral learnings.”
