UK Research and Innovation has opened a £28m grant competition under its Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage challenge, inviting UK innovators to bid for non-dilutive capital to develop batteries that run for more than 100 hours and systems that store hydrogen underground.
The £28m is grant money, not equity. For founders in energy storage — a capital-intensive corner of deep tech where hardware timelines run long and dilution bites early — that distinction matters. Grant capital funds the science and the demonstration hardware without touching the cap table, letting a company reach a data milestone before it prices an equity round against it.
The money sits within UKRI's Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage, or Ultra-LDES, challenge. The competition is now open for applications, with awards still to be decided; no recipients have been named. That makes this a pipeline story rather than a completed deal, but it sets the terms on which a slice of UK climate-tech will be funded over the coming period.
UKRI has flagged two areas of focus. The first is the development of new battery technologies capable of providing energy for over 100 hours — well beyond the few hours typical of the lithium-ion systems that dominate the grid today. The second is supporting the development and testing of systems that store hydrogen underground, a route to holding energy across days or seasons rather than hours.
The strategic logic is grid-shaped. As the UK adds more wind and solar, it needs somewhere to park electricity when generation outstrips demand and draw it back when the weather turns. Science Minister Chris McDonald framed the programme around energy security, reducing reliance on gas-fired generation and bringing down energy bills over the long term.
For the investors who back this segment — deep-tech and climate funds writing patient cheques — a grant win is a signal worth watching. Non-dilutive funding de-risks the earliest and most expensive stage of a hardware company's life, and a UKRI award often precedes, rather than replaces, a later equity raise. Founders who secure grants tend to come to market with more proof and less desperation, which shows up in valuation and terms.
The competition's structure, cheque sizes per project and number of awards were not detailed at launch. What is clear is the direction: £28m of public money is being pointed at long-duration storage, and UK innovators can now bid for it. The awards, when they land, will name the companies worth tracking.
Original source: UKTN — https://www.uktech.news/energy/ukri-backs-development-of-energy-storage-tech-with-28m-20260820
