Innovate UK has opened a £3 million competition for project development studies into ultra long duration energy storage, with individual grants of up to £700,000.
The funding supports electrochemical storage technologies that can deliver power to the UK grid for at least 100 continuous hours and keep doing it for 25 years or more. It comes through the UKRI R&D Missions Accelerator Programme, funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, and it is the first phase of a larger programme. At least £10 million has already been set aside for demonstrator projects in a planned second phase in mid-2027.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To lead a project, you must be a UK registered business of any size. Academic institutions can't lead, so if you are a university you will need a business partner to head up the application.
If you are a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), you can apply as a sole applicant or lead a collaborative project, involving multiple organisations.
You can work with the following as collaborators:
- Academic institutions
- Charities
- Not-for-profit organisations
- Public sector organisations
- Research and technology organisations (RTOs)
- UK registered businesses
You can only lead one application. You can also be a collaborator in up to two more.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Request between £350,000 and £700,000 in grant funding
- Last between 3 and 9 months
- Start by 1 January 2027
- End by 30 September 2027
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
You also need to pick one of two streams. Stream 1 is for technologies close to commercial scale that can compete with installed lithium iron phosphate batteries, with a plan to deliver a grid-connected demonstration of at least 100 MWh by 2030 and a total ownership cost below US$40 per kWh. Stream 2 is for earlier-stage technologies chasing a much lower cost, with a plan for a grid-connected pilot of at least 100 kWh by 2030 and a total ownership cost below US$15 per kWh by the early 2030s.
Your project must also:
- Cover a technology assessment, engineering design, cost and scale-up roadmap, market assessment, deployment plan, and manufacturing and supply chain plan
- Deliver cost-effective electrical power to the UK grid with at least 100 continuous hours of discharge availability
- Use an electrochemical storage technology with a working life of at least 25 years
Innovate UK won't fund projects that:
- Are laboratory scale or early-stage discovery research
- Are limited to component, material or subsystem development, or to manufacturing process optimisation
- Focus on incremental improvements to short-duration battery storage
- Use non-electrochemical storage, like compressed air, hydrogen, mechanical systems, pumped hydro or thermal
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your organisation's type and size and the sort of research your project involves.
Individual grants range from £350,000 to £700,000.
Applying as a Company
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Costs Covered* | 70% | 60% | 50% |
*Feasibility studies assess the technical and commercial viability of an idea before you commit to developing it.
Funding Example
If you are a small company with eligible project costs of £1 million, you can claim 70% of those costs, giving you a grant of £700,000. You will need to fund the remaining £300,000 from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Research organisations carrying out non-economic activity can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs between them, and are funded at higher rates:
- Up to 100% of eligible costs if you are a charity, not-for-profit organisation, public sector organisation, research organisation or RTO
- Up to 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are an academic institution
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 30 September 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section covers the basics of your project:
- Application team
- Project summary
- Public description
- Scope
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 15 questions in total:
- Seven unscored administrative questions covering topics like animal testing, applicant location, export licences, international collaboration, permits and licences, and which stream you are applying to
- Eight scored questions covering your technology, demonstration pathway, performance and cost evidence, commercialisation potential, manufacturing and supply chain benefits, team and resources, project management, and value for money
You can include appendices (PDFs) for the performance and cost question and the team question, and you must include a project plan appendix for the project management question.
Finances
Every organisation in your project completes its own finances section, setting out its eligible costs and the funding it is requesting.
Project Impact
This section asks how you will measure and report the difference your project makes, and it does not count towards your score.
Your application will be reviewed by five independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 2 November 2026.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a 'portfolio approach' by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won't necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
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