Battery innovation feasibility studies round 2

Overview

This competition supports early-stage feasibility studies that accelerate the development and commercialisation of advanced battery technologies in the UK. It focuses on strengthening the domestic battery supply chain, improving global competitiveness, and enabling electrification across sectors such as automotive, aerospace, rail, and energy storage.

Projects should demonstrate clear market demand, address industry challenges, and show how the innovation will deliver measurable improvements such as cost reduction, performance gains, safety, or environmental impact.

This competition is split into two strands:

• Battery innovation feasibility round 2 (this strand)
• Battery innovation concept development round 2

Scope

Projects must:

• accelerate the development and commercialisation of state of the art battery technologies in the UK
• support the growth of the UK battery supply chain and related companies
• enhance the UK’s competitiveness in the global battery market
• demonstrate how battery technologies can meet specific application requirements and drive electrification across diverse sectors

Projects must demonstrate market demand for a chosen sector and application. Proposals must explain how the innovation addresses industry challenges, removes barriers and strengthens UK competitiveness across the battery value chain.

Technologies must address at least one of the following outcomes:

• reduced cost, including total cost of ownership
• improved performance
• improved safety
• increased predictability and reliability
• reduced environmental impact
• alignment with relevant standards and regulatory requirements

Solutions can span the full battery value chain and must consider financial viability, sustainability targets, environmental impact and regulatory frameworks.

Key themes and topics

Proposals can address one or more of the following areas:

• raw materials
• advanced cell materials
• cell design and components
• process and manufacturing tools
• quality control and diagnostics
• testing, simulation and digital tools

Projects should align with one or more of the following groups:

1. Material extraction

Innovations that strengthen sustainable, competitive access to raw materials.

Projects should:

• develop sustainable extraction methods with reduced environmental impact
• enhance efficiency, yield or purity of raw materials used in battery chemistries
• support substitution, diversification or novel sources of critical minerals
• incorporate environmental monitoring, traceability or responsible sourcing technologies
• integrate digital tools for resource mapping, process optimisation or environmental protection
• enable UK access to advanced materials crucial for next generation cells

1. Material processing

Advancing processed materials required for high performance, cost effective cells.

Projects should:

• innovate in cathode, anode, electrolyte or separator materials
• scale up processing of active materials for next generation chemistries (for example solid state, sodium-ion, LFP, high nickel, silicon rich)
• improve energy, water or reagent efficiency in material production
• enhance material consistency, purity and performance through improved processing routes
• apply digital tools, modelling or automation to improve throughput and quality
• integrate sustainability, recycling feedstocks or circular inputs into the materials process

1. Cell production

Improving cell manufacturing capability, quality, cost and scalability.

Projects should:

• advance electrode manufacturing, cell assembly and formation processes
• develop tools, equipment or automation solutions for improved production efficiency
• enable scale up from lab to pilot line to gigafactory levels
• introduce in-line diagnostics, digital twins and modelling to improve quality and reduce scrap
• reduce energy demand, waste or environmental impacts in cell production
• support industrialisation of new chemistries or formats (pouch, cylindrical, prismatic)
• integrate design for manufacturing approaches to improve yield and reliability

1. Module and pack integration, diagnostics and use phase

Enhancing system level performance, durability, safety and integration.

Projects should:

• innovate in module and pack design, structural systems or fast assembly techniques
• improve safety systems, early warning diagnostics and fault tolerant designs
• develop advanced battery management system functionality, including state of health or state of charge algorithms
• create thermal management innovations, including new materials, architectures or control systems
• apply simulation, digital twins or data-driven optimisation for real-world performance
• enable circularity-ready or end-of-life-friendly design
• support application-specific optimisation for automotive, aerospace, maritime, rail, defence or stationary storage

1. Recycling and circular economy

Strengthening UK capability in end-of-life processing, reuse, recovery and circularity.

Projects should:

• advance processes for dismantling, sorting and safe handling of end-of-life batteries
• develop improved recovery pathways for critical materials and black mass refining
• integrate recycled materials back into upstream production
• develop reuse, second life or remanufacturing technologies
• reduce waste and environmental impact across the end-of-life system
• introduce digital tracking, provenance and circular economy systems across the lifecycle
• create business models or technologies that enable circularity at scale

For feasibility studies, projects should:

• trial advanced and novel battery technologies for the first time
• support trial and adaptation of existing materials, processes or equipment for application in battery technologies or the battery supply chain
• exploit scientific advances with a focus on product or process commercialisation
• trial novel approaches, tools and methods

Projects can target performance requirements for at least one of the listed sectors and may support emerging use cases or cross-sector applicability, including defence, aerospace and battery energy storage:

• automotive sector, including on and off highway vehicles, motorsports and niche automotive
• aerospace
• battery energy storage systems
• rail
• maritime
• defence (innovation must be dual use with clear relevance beyond defence applications)

Projects must clearly demonstrate an understanding of the target sector, industry and market demand across the UK, Europe and globally.

Project duration

Between 6 and 18 months

Must start on 1 October 2026

End by 31 March 2028

Award value

Grant funding request between £70,000 and £500,000.

Funding rates

For feasibility studies, which evaluate a project’s potential and support early decision-making, funding is available for eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% for micro or small organisations
• up to 60% for medium-sized organisations
• up to 50% for large organisations

Research organisations can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs.

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size
• Projects must include at least one grant-claiming SME
• Collaborators can include UK registered businesses, academic institutions, charities, not for profits, public sector organisations or RTOs
• Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs
• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK (except for justified non-UK partners not claiming funding)
• Projects must intend to exploit results in or from the UK
• Subsidy control and state aid rules apply