Testing and validating underground hydrogen storage components

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

• be collaborative

• have total eligible grant funding request between £2.5 million and £5 million

• start on 1 May 2027

• end by 30 November 2029

• last between 24 and 30 months

• address all three technical themes in the competition scope

The £3 million maximum applies at enterprise level. Applicants must take account of linked enterprises and any other relevant subsidy received for the same project or activity.

The streamlined scheme requires subsidies for the same enterprise, project and substantially the same purpose to be considered cumulatively. Its limits cannot be circumvented by artificially dividing a single project into multiple constituent projects.

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

Your project must not start before the intended project start date unless UKRI has provided written authorisation.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs.

If your project’s grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will then decide whether to approve your request.

If your project does not meet our criteria and you have not requested justification approval, your application will be made ineligible and it will not be sent for assessment.

Lead organisation

To lead a collaborative project, your organisation must be a UK registered:

• business of any size

• research and technology organisation (RTO), provided you can demonstrate appropriate commercialisation expertise

• academic institution, provided you can demonstrate appropriate commercialisation expertise within the consortia

The lead organisation of the consortium must:

• be responsible for the overall delivery of the programme, though support from a partner with programme management expertise is acceptable

• manage the consortium and relationships between work packages

• demonstrate appropriate financial standing and programme management capability

• have authority to enter into a collaboration agreement with all project partners

• demonstrate how project outcomes will be exploited or supported towards exploitation in or from the UK

If the lead is a business, it must be registered at Companies House before applying. Certain registration types, including registrations with FC or BR prefixes, are not treated as eligible UK registered businesses under Innovate UK’s general funding guidance.

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.**Project team**

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size

• an academic institution

• research, technology organisation (RTO)

• charity

• not for profit

• public sector organisation

The consortium must include the organisations, expertise, facilities and routes to adoption needed to deliver the full programme.

We expect this to include, where relevant, expertise that covers:

• hydrogen storage technology developers

• component and equipment manufacturers

• materials specialists

• compressor developers or suppliers

• metering and monitoring technology developers

• storage developers or operators

• end users

• research organisations where appropriate

• testing and validation facilities

• standards and certification organisations

• safety and regulatory expertise

• supply chain and manufacturing partners

Your consortium must include:

• at least two grant claiming partners

• an end user, storage developer, or operator, or supporting letters from this type of organisation

• UK based testing and certification organisations where suitable capacity exists, or supporting letters from this type of organisation

Businesses, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations and RTOs may participate, subject to the competition specific eligibility rules and the organisation’s role in the project.

Non-UK organisations may participate as subcontractors or non-grant-claiming partners where they provide essential capability that is not reasonably available in the UK.

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in the IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

To be an eligible collaboration:

• the lead and at least one other organisation must request funding

• you must explain why you’re collaborating and how the collaboration will work

Non-funded partners

Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can only include those from the UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Number of applications

An eligible organisation can only lead on one application. Any further applications by the same organisation as lead will be made ineligible.

An eligible organisation that is leading an application can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications and if not leading, can collaborate in any number of applications.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You cannot use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project

• an overdue independent accountant’s report

• failed to comply with award terms and conditions

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.

The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here: SC10780.

This is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £5 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

Under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route rules, no more than £3 million can be awarded in the form of a grant to any one enterprise in any one competition.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

For industrial research the innovation support you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

Category 2: Industrial research projects

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation

• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

For more information on company sizes, refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Research participation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 100% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 100% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are an academic institution

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

1. Research organisations must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method as the Je-S form has now been decommissioned.

2. We pay 100% of the 80% Full Economic Cost (FEC). On IFS only enter the 80% being claimed.

To find out more see our: Cost Guidance for Academics.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to fund a consortium programme which will enable the UK to accelerate the development and validation of critical technologies needed for the safe, reliable and cost-effective use of hydrogen in ULDES within the UK electricity sector. This should enable components to be used in commercial settings within a 2030 timeline. The awarded consortium should work as one cohesive programme, containing the skills and expertise to deliver the competition aim.

Solutions must be relevant to underground hydrogen storage (UHS) conditions, though should be technology agnostic across the various UHS technologies capable of meeting the requirements of the challenge statement.

Hydrogen based ULDES has the potential to contribute to a resilient, flexible and decarbonised UK energy system. However, further innovation and technical evidence are needed to address challenges associated with materials compatibility, compression, component performance, metering, monitoring, containment and system integrity. This innovation needs to be addressed using a coordinated approach, to avoid duplication across thematic areas and allow developments in each area to be readily available to accelerate the others, to support the 2030 ambitions of the UKRI ultra long duration energy storage challenge.

Your project must bring together a multidisciplinary consortium capable of delivering a single, cohesive programme across the following three technical themes:

1. materials

2. compressors

3. components for metering and monitoring

Your project must also include:

• an overarching programme management work package

• cross cutting validation and certification activity

• representative testing of technologies and components

• meaningful engagement with relevant standards, certification and regulatory organisations

• considerations of supply chain capabilities, dependencies and scalability

• meaningful engagement with end users, storage developers, or operators

• dissemination of technical evidence and learning

• a credible route to exploitation, deployment and further commercial development in or from the UK

Programme approach

Your proposal must present one integrated programme containing, as a minimum:

• Work package 0: programme management and integration

• Work package 1: materials

• Work package 2: compressors

• Work package 3: components for metering and monitoring

• Work package 4: cross-cutting validation, certification and standards

• Work package 5: dissemination, exploitation and knowledge transfer

Alternative work package structures will be accepted if they clearly address every requirement and retain a coherent cross programme approach.

Programme management costs should not normally exceed 10% of the grant requested. Applicants must justify these costs and can distinguish overarching programme management from additional proportionate technical management within individual work packages.

Specific themes

Theme 1: Materials

Your project must develop and evaluate materials for underground hydrogen storage and associated equipment under relevant operational conditions.

This may include, but is not limited to:

• liners

• steels

• cements

• tubing

• elastomers

• casings

• safety valves

• packers

• seals and other containment components

• lower cost materials or manufacturing approaches

Your project can:

• test and improve material compatibility with hydrogen under representative underground hydrogen storage operating conditions

• investigate fatigue, degradation, integrity and containment

• consider exposure to relevant fluids, brines, impurities and hydrogen sulphide, where applicable

• develop models and tools that support lifetime and maintenance decisions

• improve performance, cost, durability, reliability, manufacturability and scalability

• generate evidence to support applicable standards and certification

• identify credible routes to manufacture, scale-up and commercial deployment

Theme 2: Compressors

Your project must develop or improve compressor technologies suitable for hydrogen ULDES applications.

This may include, but is not limited to:

• novel compressors

• hybrid compressor systems

• improvements to existing compressor designs

• lower-cost compressor technologies

• control, diagnostics and predictive-maintenance approaches

Your project can:

• test and improve performance, energy efficiency, reliability, durability and safety at under representative underground hydrogen storage operating conditions

• consider relevant cycling rates, flow rates, inlet and discharge pressures, ramp rates and considering tolerance to impurities and contaminants

• improve whole life costs

• generate evidence to support applicable standards and certification

• identify credible routes to manufacture, scale up and commercial deployment

Theme 3: Components for metering and monitoring

Your project must develop and test tools, methods or components for measuring and monitoring the performance and integrity of hydrogen ULDES systems.

This may include:

• measurement of rock mechanical response

• monitoring of material degradation

• hydrogen containment monitoring

• surface and subsurface leakage detection

• gas-flow measurement

• condition monitoring

• integration of sensing, data and diagnostic systems

Your project can:

• define relevant accuracy, sensitivity and performance requirements

• evaluate performance and degradation under representative conditions

• address calibration and reliability

• consider integration into operational storage systems

• support predictive maintenance and risk management

• generate evidence relevant to standards, certification and assurance

• identify routes to manufacture, scale up and deployment

Cross-cutting aspects, validation, certification and standards

Your project must include a coherent approach to cross cutting aspects. This includes supply chain considerations as well as validation and certification. Projects should generate evidence to support compliance with relevant regulatory, standards and certification requirements, such as:

• Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

• the Environmental Agency

• British Standards Institution (BSI)

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

You must:

• identify the standards, codes and certification requirements relevant to the proposed technologies

• identify gaps in current standards or evidence

• engage relevant standards, certification and regulatory bodies

• define representative test conditions and agreed performance metrics

• generate robust, traceable and reproducible evidence

• explain how evidence will support future qualification, certification or standardisation

• develop a plan for using and disseminating project findings

• address how intellectual property and commercial confidentiality will be balanced with wider knowledge sharing

Where full certification cannot be completed within the project, you must define:

• the certification pathway

• the evidence generated by the project

• the remaining evidence gaps

• the organisations responsible for the next steps

• a realistic timetable and funding route

Testing and demonstration

Your project must include testing in environments representative of intended operating conditions.

You must explain:

• the starting maturity of each technology

• the target maturity at project completion

• the proposed test environment

• the operational conditions to be represented

• success and failure criteria

• stage gates and decision points

• how test evidence and input from stakeholders across the supply chain will inform design changes

• how independent validation will be achieved

You should consider how proposed testing, demonstration and verification activities are integrated and coordinated to reduce technical operational and commercial risks.

Programme outcomes

By the end of the project, the successful consortium should have delivered the following under representative underground hydrogen storage applications:

• significantly improved the performance and cost of materials, compressors and metering or monitoring technologies

• validated performance evidence

• improved understanding of degradation, fatigue, integrity, efficiency and reliability

• credible models or tools supporting design, operation and maintenance

• defined certification pathways

• evidence that can inform relevant standards

• manufacturing and supply-chain plans

• exploitation and commercialisation plans

• recommendations for further research, demonstration or deployment

• transferable learning for the wider hydrogen ULDES sector

UKRI are also considering options for supporting a single ‘virtual’ front door for hydrogen storage testing and verification in the UK. Programmes may wish to consider how they could approach commercial sustainability and longevity for the consortium beyond this specific funding competition. UKRI are considering whether future funds may be made available for this at a later date.

Added value

Your application must explain why public funding is required and what difference it will make.

You must demonstrate that funding will:

• accelerate the work

• increase its scale or ambition

• reduce technical and commercial risk

• enable collaboration that would not otherwise occur

• address market failures or coordination barriers

• generate wider benefits beyond those captured by individual consortium partners

You must explain what would happen without the funding and why the proposed activity is not readily financeable on normal commercial terms.

We expect to fund one consortium project only. Your application must therefore address the competition scope as an integrated programme rather than as a collection of unrelated activities. UKRI reserves the right to change this approach at any point during the assessment process.

Applicants should establish a clear programme architecture, with defined technical work packages, cross-cutting activity, dependencies, decision points and measurable outcomes.

Stage gates

This competition will be grant funded with additional conditions around stage gates and monitoring added to the standard Innovate UK T&Cs.

These stage gates will focus on examining your programme’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and milestone ambitions. The KPI’s and milestones should be set at the beginning of the project and developed throughout, incorporating both commercial and technical aspects.

Stage gates will allow the programme the opportunity to pivot in response to steers from UKRI and in some cases external assessors, to ensure the focus on achieving outcomes by 2030 is maintained. In some instances, stage gates may result in the end of a project or programme where UKRI feels that progress and expectations are not being effectively met. They may also enable UKRI and the consortia to build in additional aspects in response to regulatory, policy or other landscape changes.

You will be invited to suggest what would be appropriate to include in stage gate points for your project within your programme planning. For example, you could suggest particular sequencing for single or multiple stage gate points throughout your programme’s duration. You could also suggest what milestones you expect to meet by certain points and therefore what conditions the stage gate should be based on.

This conversation will be further developed with successful applicants at the project set-up phase to agree appropriate stage-gates.

Applicants should also expect to respond to quarterly monitoring surveys as part of the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme monitoring and evaluation programme. This is in addition to standard Innovate UK and UKRI monitoring requirements.

The project can be defined under industrial research category of research and development. Feasibility studies are not in scope.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. Funding is limited and UKRI may decide not to fund an application if it does not meet the required quality threshold, value-for-money expectations or strategic objectives.

UKRI reserves the right to adjust the funding allocation or not to make an award.

Portfolio approach

We may utilise our ability to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, technological maturities, themes and location. We call this a portfolio approach.

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

• not strongly align with the competition scope

• address only one or two of the three technical themes

• consist of disconnected activities without a cohesive programme structure

• focus primarily on fundamental research without a credible pathway to application

• are primarily literature review studies or requirement gathering without clear plans for impact by 2030

• undertake routine or periodic improvements to existing products, processes or services

• are not delivering measurable and specific objectives

• do not have a clear technical novelty or challenge

• do not include representative testing and validation which can be applied to an underground hydrogen storage context

• do not address hydrogen compatibility, safety and operational performance

• do not include a credible route to exploitation in or from the UK

• seek to circumvent subsidy limits by artificially splitting activities or organisations

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country

• dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product

28 October 2026

Online briefing event: register to attend

(Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event)

2 November 2026

Surgery session with Innovate UK Business Connect 11am: register to attend

12 February 2027

Invite to interview

15 March 2027

Interview panel starts

18 March 2027

Interview panel ends

24 March 2027

Applicants notified

1 May 2027

Project start on

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct

• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria

• all sections of the application are marked as complete

• that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

4. Project Impact.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

This competition is open during the Christmas holiday period. However, UKRI and Innovate UK will have limited capacity to respond to queries.

We will not respond to queries received between 23 December 2026 and 4 January 2027. Responses may also be delayed after 18 December 2026.

Submit any queries well in advance of this period to allow sufficient time for a response.

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Application team

Decide which organisations will work with you on your project and invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 6. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In the process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Question 7. Idea

Provide a detailed description of your programme and how it addresses the scope and themes of this funding opportunity.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to four A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 8. Route to market

Outline the key steps and timeline for bringing the innovations in your programme to market.

In your response, include detailed information on the following areas where relevant:

• innovation development milestones: describe the critical phases and checkpoints in your innovation development process

• commercial readiness by 2030: describe how your innovation programme will advance components for UHS towards commercial readiness in 2030

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

Question 9. Delivery

How will you ensure successful delivery of your programme?

Your response must cover:

• the structure of the programme

• how you will achieve key milestones

• any key costs associated with each part and the value of those costs

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix as part of your answer. It can include diagrams and charts and one page should include a project plan or Gantt chart. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to three A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Skills

What skills, capabilities or experience does your consortium have that will help you deliver your innovation?

You must include any skills, knowledge, or experiences that are applicable.

Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

You can submit an appendix containing letters of support. The appendix must be a PDF no larger than 10MB and must be legible when viewed at 100% zoom.

You can include multiple letters of support in a single appendix. Each letter should be no more than one A4 page and should confirm the commitment or support of the organisation providing it.

Letters of support must not introduce substantive new information not included elsewhere in your application. Assessors will not use letters of support as part of their assessment, other than to confirm support or commitment from any organisations referenced.

Question 11. Risks

What are the key risks relevant to your programme and explain what actions you will take to mitigate their impact?

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 12. Benefits

Outline the benefits you expect to result from your programme in more detail.

In your explanation, include specific metrics or indicators that you intend to use to measure these benefits.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

3. Finances

Each organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. Academic institutions must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method and upload to IFS to support their costs. This is a replacement to the Je-S form which has now been decommissioned.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance see the eligibility section in this competition. You can also view our application finances video.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by five independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

Testing and validating underground hydrogen storage components assessor guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

Interviews

If your application passes the first stage of assessment, you may be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place either online or at a designated location, likely London. The interviews will be held between 15 March and 18 March, with details to follow.

If you require reasonable adjustments for your interview, we recommend you contact us within three working days of receiving your invite to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the interview.

Before the interview and by the deadline stated in the invitation email, you:

• must send a list of who will attend the interview

• must send your interview presentation slides

• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Agree the list with your consortium. Up to 5 people from your project can attend, ideally one person from each organisation. They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.

Presentation slides

Your interview presentation must:

• use Microsoft PowerPoint

• be no longer than 10 minutes

• have no more than 8 slides

• not include any video or embedded web links

You cannot change the presentation after you submit it or bring any additional materials to the interview.

Note that your written application and written assessment will be available to interview assessors to use as part of their judgement.

Written response to assessor feedback

This is optional and is an opportunity to answer the assessors’ concerns. It can:

• be up to 1 A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document

• include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend up to 60 minutes asking questions. You will be expected to answer based on the information you provided in your application form, presentation and the response to feedback.

After your interview

The panellists will individually score your application and then enter into a moderation discussion to get your final interview score. This score will be considered alongside the written assessment as part of a final portfolio review. We will notify you whether you have been successful or not by email and you will receive feedback on your interview within a week of notification.

Background and further information

The Clean Energy Superpower Mission (CESM) is part of the UKRI R&D Missions Accelerator Programme (RDMAP). This flagship new mission led approach is backed through to 2030 by at least £500 million of funding provided by Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (previously coming under Department of Science, Innovation and Technology).

UKRI’s CESM has launched two research and innovation (R&I) challenges covering:

• consumer led flexibility (CLF)

• ultra long duration energy storage (ULDES)

The second challenge aims to accelerate the UK’s commercialisation, manufacture and deployment of ULDES technologies. These will focus on technologies and systems which can affordably meet electricity system demand for over 100 hours of continuous energy storage, taking over the role currently played by gas reserve plants. It aims to build UK manufacturing capacity, supply chains, skilled jobs, and investor confidence, and associated export opportunities.

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) has been chosen as a priority ULDES technology due to its potential to provide large scale, multi-day to interseasonal energy storage capacity required to support a future low carbon energy system. By storing significant volumes of hydrogen over extended periods, UHS could play a critical role in addressing prolonged supply demand imbalances and improve system resilience and energy security.

The UK has several potential competitive advantages in UHS, including favourable geological resources, internationally recognised subsurface expertise, established engineering and energy sector capabilities, and a growing pipeline of prospective projects. Successful deployment could strengthen UK capability across engineering, construction, subsurface services and associated supply chains. Targeted support for large scale demonstrator development could help accelerate commercialisation and retain these economic and strategic benefits within the UK.

However, UHS technologies remain at an early stage of commercial development in the UK. UHS technologies including salt caverns, subsurface silos, engineered lined shafts, lined rock caverns and porous rock storage still face a range of technical, commercial, regulatory and delivery challenges. Significant innovation in effective testing and validation of UHS components under representative conditions is also needed to ensure the right certification are in place to give UHS projects, regulators and local communities confidence in their operation. The testing and validation needs to be developed consistently across components to ensure appropriate standardisation is achieved. These developments can be done with a technology agnostic approach, to ensure they are relevant across future UK UHS contexts.

Hydrogen storage has a critical role alongside low carbon dispatchable power (LCDP) and is one of the few clean storage solutions capable of providing 100 hours or more of reserve power at the scale required. The 7th Carbon Budget includes just under 40 GW of LCDP in 2050, and hydrogen-to-power is expected to have a strong economic advantage over gas carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) at low load factors.

Targeted R&I now is an essential part of de-risking carbon budgets.

The RDMAP ULDES Challenge is also supporting the development of electrochemical ultra long duration energy storage demonstration projects in the UK. A ULDES Project Development Studies competition was closed earlier this year. The aim of this was to support the development, scale-up, and UK manufacture of electrochemical ULDES technologies. Phase 2 of the electrochemical stream is expected to launch in the middle of 2027.

Find out more about the wider ULDES programme: New challenge launched to store clean energy for longer (opens in new window).

Available support 

We will be working with Innovate UK Business Connect (IUKBC), who will deliver and manage an online matchmaking tool to be open throughout the duration of the competition. This tool can help you connect with potential partner and share ideas to build effective consortia. IUKBC will also host a series of surgery sessions for potential applicants to sign up. These will offer applicants the opportunity to network with others and ask further questions on the competition. 

Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme Information

This award is being offered under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme in accordance with section 10(4) of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Projects funded must meet the following definition:

Category 2: Industrial research​

​The planned research or critical investigation that is aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services. It can also be for projects that are aimed at bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services. ​

This would include digital products, processes or services, in any technology, industry or sector, including, but not limited to: digital industries and technologies, such as supercomputing, quantum technologies, blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud technologies. ​

Industrial research comprises the creation of component parts of complex systems. It may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines. Where necessary, this would be for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation.​

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project, for example, your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is operated by Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Innovate UK and UKRI are directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with our own policies.

Innovate UK and UKRI may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

Innovate UK, UKRI and Innovate UK Business Connect will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

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The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

This competition is open during the Christmas holiday period. However, UKRI and Innovate UK will have limited capacity to respond to queries.

We will not respond to queries received between 23 December 2026 and 4 January 2027. Responses may also be delayed after 18 December 2026.

Submit any queries well in advance of this period to allow sufficient time for a response.

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