Underground hydrogen storage demonstrator DEVEX support

Description UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will invest up to £1.5 million from the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme (RDMAP), in project development studies supporting underground hydrogen storage demonstrator facilities in the UK. This competition responds directly to the recently launched Ultra Long Duration Energy Storage ULDES Challenge . The ULDES challenge as a whole has up to £28 million to invest up to 2030, split between electrochemical and hydrogen for storage activities. This competition sits alongside a separate £5 million competition that will provide funding for collaborative research and development programme to test and validate underground hydrogen storage components, which is linked later in this section. The aim of this competition is to support the development of credible underground hydrogen storage (UHS) demonstrator projects from an early stage (FEL-1 or -2) opportunity. The projects should be capable of progressing to defined, commercially credible and materially de-risked (FEL -3 complete) investment ready propositions, final investment decision (FID), and on to project execution. Successful projects must generate evidence and public learning to support cost effective UHS deployment in the UK, demonstrating a discharge availability of at least 100 continuous hours. Projects must target initial megawatt hour (MWh) scale deployment by 2030, and demonstrate a credible pathway to commercial, gigawatt hour (GWh) scale deployment in the UK by 2035. Please refer to the project definition and cost estimate classification system guidance for FEL definitions and associated cost estimate classification used in this competition. Your proposal must deliver a project development study that includes: • front end engineering design (FEED) level engineering definition • robust cost and schedule definition • commercial viability assessment • hydrogen supply and offtake arrangements • planning, consenting and regulatory progression • project execution and procurement planning Your project development study must demonstrate how you will develop a credible project that will contribute to the commercial scale deployment of underground hydrogen storage by 2035. This competition is intended as the first stage of a potential wider investment of up to £10 million that UKRI has currently earmarked to support a demonstrator in this area. Any future funding would be subject to further approvals and decisions, which will be informed in part by the progress and outcomes of projects funded through this competition, including evidence of a credible and accelerated pathway to FID. No decision has yet been made. An award under this competition does not confer eligibility for, or entitlement to, any future funding. Successful projects awarded through this competition may have the opportunity to benefit from support through the UK Government Cleantech Innovation Challenges (CIC) programme, subject to relevant approvals and further programme development. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is currently exploring the potential for an Innovation Challenge focused on long duration energy storage as part of the CIC programme. If taken forward, the challenge could provide a cohort of Innovation Champions, with targeted non-financial support aimed at accelerating commercialisation and deployment. This support could include partnership building, knowledge sharing, policy and regulatory engagement, and tailored support to help projects progress towards demonstration and deployment. The UKRI RDMAP are running two competitions across UHS: • Testing and validating underground hydrogen storage components • Underground hydrogen storage demonstrator: DEVEX support (this competition) It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct competition for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application, and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope. In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it. Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 20% chance of success. We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny. We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions. This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or thir

Who can apply Your project Your project must: • have total eligible grant funding request of between £200,000 and £750,000 • last between 6 and 12 months • start by 1 April 2027 • end by 31 March 2028 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. You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs . If your project’s total eligible 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 or to work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules . Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone. Project team To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered: • business of any size • academic institution • charity • not for profit • public sector organisation • research and technology organisation (RTO) 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 include 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

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 • if collaborative, 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: • Project details. • Application questions. • Finances. • 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