Government Launches £28m Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage Challenge

Key Points

• The Government has announced a £28 million Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage (Ultra-LDES) Challenge to invest in technology that can store renewable electricity for over 100 hours.
• The scheme is run jointly by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
• That’s storage for more than 100 hours, which equals more than four days of powering homes and businesses.
• The challenge is broken up into two themes: long-duration electrochemical battery technologies and Sub-underground hydrogen storage.
• The total energy-system costs could be reduced by £14bn to £50bn between 2035 and 2050, according to government estimates.
• Science Minister Chris McDonald MP and Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP have both welcomed the announcement.
• The first competition for the project-development studies into ultra-long duration battery storage is open and will close on 30 September 2026, comprising individual grants in the range of £350,000 to £700,000.
• Large-scale demonstrator projects from 2027 will receive a minimum of a further £10 million.
• Policy institute Curia has previously helped energy infrastructure developer Carlton Power secure Government backing for green hydrogen projects at Trafford, Barrow-in-Furness and Langage.
• The challenge is one of 20 Clean Energy challenges being made available as part of a wider package of £102m of Clean Energy challenges and a R&D Missions Accelerator Programme of £500m to leverage a further £1.5bn in private investment.

London (Britain Today News) August 21, 2026 — The Government has launched a new £28 million Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage Challenge, opening a fresh source of public funding for UK businesses developing technologies capable of storing renewable electricity for more than 100 hours.

Announced on 20 August by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the programme will back technologies able to store clean energy for at least 100 hours — enough to power homes and businesses for more than four days. The initiative is designed to help the electricity system bridge extended periods when wind and solar generation is low, with a particular focus on new battery technologies and underground hydrogen storage.

What Is the Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage Challenge?

The Ultra-LDES Challenge is a Government-backed funding programme aimed at commercialising technologies capable of storing renewable electricity for extended periods. Rather than storing power for a few hours, as many existing battery systems do, the Challenge specifically targets technologies capable of holding energy for 100 hours or more. Officials say this is a crucial gap in Britain’s clean energy system, since existing storage solutions are largely designed for short-term balancing rather than bridging multi-day dips in renewable output.

Why Does Storing Renewable Power for Over 100 Hours Matter?

Wind and solar are now among the cheapest sources of electricity available in Britain, but their intermittency creates a fundamental challenge. When generation exceeds demand, renewable electricity can be wasted or constrained. When wind and solar output falls, the system requires other sources of electricity to make up the difference, including gas-fired generation.

Ultra-long duration storage is intended to bridge that gap by allowing large quantities of renewable electricity to be stored when generation is plentiful, before being released back into the system when it is needed. The Government believes reducing reliance on natural gas could both strengthen domestic energy security and insulate households and businesses from the kind of international commodity price movements that contributed to the recent energy crisis.

Who Is Funding the Ultra-LDES Challenge and How Much Money Is Involved?

The £28 million programme is being jointly delivered by DBIST, DESNZ and UKRI. It represents the completion of a wider £102 million package of Clean Energy challenges, sitting alongside the separate £74 million Consumer-led Flexibility Challenge. Both initiatives fall under the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme, through which the Government plans to invest at least £500 million by 2030, while seeking to leverage a further £1.5 billion in private investment alongside public money.

What Technologies Will the Challenge Support?

The programme is divided into two principal strands.

How Will Battery Storage Technologies Be Supported?

The first strand will support the development of electrochemical technologies capable of supplying electricity for more than 100 hours. Many of these technologies have yet to reach commercial deployment at scale, creating an opportunity for Britain to establish domestic manufacturing, intellectual property and supply chains as the global market develops.

How Will Underground Hydrogen Storage Be Supported?

The second strand focuses on systems capable of storing hydrogen underground and releasing it when required. Government estimates suggest this could eventually reduce total energy-system costs by between £14 billion and £50 billion between 2035 and 2050.

What Have Ministers Said About the £28m Challenge?

Science Minister Chris McDonald MP said:

“When we unlock the potential of science and innovation, it can improve all of our lives. That is what this challenge is all about; using the world-class scientific expertise that we have in the UK to benefit people in every postcode. Clean sources of power are vital to meeting our energy needs as a nation. If we can meet the challenge of storing energy from renewables, we will improve our energy security, bring down energy bills in the long-term, and leave all of us better off.”

Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP said:

“Homegrown clean energy is our route to more affordable bills and energy security, and storing it for when we need it most is critical. By backing new cutting-edge battery technology and hydrogen storage with this £28 million grant, we will store more clean power, reduce reliance on expensive gas generation and deliver a more secure energy system.”

How Has Curia Previously Helped Secure Government Backing for Green Hydrogen?

For businesses developing these technologies, the challenge is not simply proving that an innovation works. Moving emerging energy technologies from demonstration into commercial infrastructure requires businesses to demonstrate technical viability, deliverability, economic value, credible routes to market and their potential contribution to wider Government objectives.

Independent policy institute Curia has previously worked with energy infrastructure developer Carlton Power to demonstrate the wider economic, social and environmental value of emerging green hydrogen projects. Curia produced detailed assessments covering Carlton Power’s proposed green hydrogen developments at Trafford in Greater Manchester, Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and Langage near Plymouth.

Rather than focusing solely on the engineering proposition, the work sought to establish what investment in the projects could mean for their surrounding economies. Curia assessed factors including local economic growth, jobs, skills, carbon reductions, energy resilience, impacts on local industry and wider social value, drawing on Government data alongside evidence gathered from stakeholders, suppliers and prospective hydrogen users.

The Barrow analysis, for example, estimated that development could support more than 300 jobs, contribute millions of pounds in Gross Value Added to the local economy and avoid more than 23,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. At Langage, Curia estimated the project could add £1.26 million in GVA to the local economy by 2030, while helping demonstrate how smaller distributed hydrogen facilities could support industrial decarbonisation and renewable-energy integration.

Importantly, the work also considered the projects against the Government’s Social Value Model, helping translate a new energy technology into the economic and public-policy outcomes relevant to Government investment decisions. All three Carlton Power projects were subsequently successful in the first Hydrogen Allocation Round, securing financial contracts from DESNZ. The projects represented around 55MW of capacity and approximately £100 million of investment, providing a useful case study in how emerging energy projects can build an evidence base extending beyond the technology itself.

The experience does not mean independent policy analysis alone wins Government funding. But it demonstrates the importance of being able to answer a wider set of questions: what problem does the technology solve, what economic value will it create, where will the jobs be, who will buy the product, what are the environmental benefits, and how does the project contribute to Government’s wider objectives? Those same questions are likely to matter as businesses compete for the next generation of clean-energy funding.

What Funding Is Currently Open for UK Businesses?

Alongside the wider £28 million programme, UKRI has launched an initial competition providing up to £3 million for project-development studies into electrochemical ultra-long duration energy storage. UK-registered businesses can apply individually or as part of collaborations, with projects expected to examine areas including technology, engineering design, costs, scale-up, markets, manufacturing, supply chains and future development.

Individual funding requests are expected to fall between £350,000 and £700,000, with the competition closing on 30 September 2026. A further minimum of £10 million is planned for a second phase supporting large-scale demonstrator projects, currently expected to launch in 2027. For innovators, that means the current competition is as much about establishing whether projects can move credibly from concept to deployment as it is about advancing the underlying technology.

What Have Industry Leaders Said About the Announcement?

Jenny Hill, UKRI’s Clean Energy Challenge Director, said:

“Ensuring the UK has the technologies capable of storing energy efficiently and effectively is a vital part of the equation in the move to a clean and more secure energy system. This Challenge will help propel the UK to the forefront of the global energy storage market, creating skilled jobs and attracting private investment.”

Clare Jackson, CEO of Hydrogen UK, said:

“Ultra-long duration energy storage is critical for ensuring the UK moves to a more secure, low-carbon energy system with lower costs for consumers and businesses. Hydrogen has a fundamental role to play in that future energy mix, providing a way to store renewable energy over long periods and use it when the system needs it most. Supporting the development of hydrogen storage alongside flexible power generation will be key to unlocking these benefits across the wider energy system. The Ultra-LDES Challenge is an important step towards developing the technologies and infrastructure the UK will need at scale, and we look forward to supporting the innovative hydrogen technologies that emerge.”

How Does This Challenge Fit into the UK’s Wider Clean Energy Strategy?

The £28 million Ultra-LDES Challenge forms part of a much bigger attempt to use Government research and innovation spending to establish commercially viable industries. It completes the rollout of £102 million of Clean Energy challenges, alongside the £74 million Consumer-led Flexibility Challenge. Both sit within the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme, through which Government plans to invest at least £500 million by 2030, while seeking to leverage a further £1.5 billion in private investment alongside public money.

That private-investment dimension will ultimately determine whether technologies backed by programmes such as Ultra-LDES develop into significant British industries. Government grants can help de-risk early development and demonstration, but successful businesses will still need to prove their commercial markets, build supply chains, secure private capital and demonstrate measurable economic and social returns.
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What Does This Mean for the Future of the UK Energy Storage Industry?

Previous projects such as Carlton Power’s green hydrogen developments illustrate how building a wider evidence base can support the journey from an emerging technology proposition towards Government backing and private investment. With billions likely to be invested in Britain’s electricity system over the coming decades, the £28 million announced this week may be relatively small in isolation.

The bigger prize is whether it helps create technologies, businesses and supply chains which allow Britain to store its increasingly abundant renewable electricity — and turn an energy-system challenge into a new domestic industry. Whether the Ultra-LDES Challenge succeeds in that ambition will depend on how quickly emerging battery and hydrogen storage technologies can move from laboratory and demonstration stages into commercially viable, investable infrastructure across the country.