Gravitricity is the only Scottish firm shortlisted.

The company has invented an energy storage technology which uses gravity to store large amounts of energy in purpose-built shafts.

The idea has caught the eye of the New Energy Challenge, an international start-up competition funded by Shell and others, which aims to find energy technologies of the future.

Now, Gravitricity must pitch their concept in front of a panel of judges to win the prize.

Charlie Blair, managing director, said: “We are up against six other firms and we expect the competition will be intense. There were over 300 entries initially and now we are in the final straight. This weekend we’ll begin with a few days of coaching and workshops in Delft before we showcase our project to a jury of experts in Amsterdam. We will know by the end of next week if we have won.”

The prize would enable Gravitricity to build a proof of concept demonstrator supported by Shell through their Gamechanger programme.

Already the firm has received over £600,000 funding from InnovateUK for their idea and has teamed up with Dutch winch firm Huisman to build the demonstrator.

They have also lined up potential sites in the UK and overseas for their first full-scale system.

Mr Blair said: “The climate emergency means the world will rely increasingly on renewable electricity – and we need to find ways to store that energy. Recent analysis by Bloomberg says the global energy storage market will be worth $620 billion to 2040(1) and we believe our technology is really well placed to tap into this opportunity.”

The firm is now planning a crowd fundraiser in October and is inviting people to sign up if they are interested

Mr Blair added: “We think we have a cracking idea and we would love if more people could become involved and back it.”