Our work to make Britain a clean energy superpower is designed to lower bills, boost energy security, improve system efficiency, cut emissions, and create new opportunities for UK innovation and economic growth.
We’ve identified two major innovation opportunities to support a modern electricity system with high levels of variable renewable energy, as part of the UK’s shift to clean power by 2030:
- Helping households and businesses use energy more flexibly to lower bills and reduce the UK’s reliance on gas generation.
- Developing affordable ultra-long-duration energy storage to provide clean reserve sources of power, boost energy security and position the UK as a leader in a growing global market.
Consumer-led flexibility
We are seeking to partner with industry to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and digital solutions and other innovations that enhance the flexibility and resilience of the power grid. Our goal is to deliver at least two gigawatts (GW) of peak-time grid flexibility by 2030, equivalent to the capacity of two large nuclear power plants. Interventions will go ‘beyond demo’, by investing in real-world solutions which endure beyond the conclusion of the programme.
Ultra-long-duration energy storage
We are supporting the commercialisation and deployment of technologies capable of discharging power over durations over 100 hours at a cost comparable to gas-fired reserve.
Objectives
We will:
- deliver at least 2GW of additional peak demand-side flexibility by 2030
- deliver at least one ultra-long-duration demonstration project of 100 MWh by 2030
- achieve £3 leveraged investment per £1 of Clean Energy Superpower Mission funding as part of a focus on growing UK-based innovators and skills, and to secure sustainability beyond 2030
- make the benefits for people visible and tangible, including for low-income households, aiming to reduce bills for more than 100,000 low-income homes in areas of excess generation and high constraints
How we will do it
We are achieving this mission through the following activities:
- a consumer-led flexibility competition focused on developing new AI and digital solutions to increase consumer-led flexibility and support wider use across the energy system by 2030 (£25 million) (closed)
- Sandpit: market access acceleration in consumer led flexibility
- project development studies into electrochemical ultra-long duration energy storage technologies to develop concrete proposals for demonstration projects in the UK (£3 million) (closed)
- A demand turn-up trial where households and businesses will be incentivised to increase their electricity consumption at times when there is a surplus of renewable energy generation (£20 million)
Current and upcoming opportunities include the following.
Hydrogen storage V2X
This opportunity will provide further support for consumer-led flexibility innovators via an investor partnership approach. The approach will leverage private sector funding by providing a grant to high potential startups or scaleups that are actively raising. This will allow them to turbo-charge a key component of their business plan (£15 million).
Hydrogen storage
Under the Hydrogen storage call, there are two funding opportunities available:
- Underground hydrogen storage demonstrator DEVEX support (£1.5 million)
- Testing and validating underground hydrogen storage components (£5 million)
The Clean Energy Superpower Mission is part of a set of new challenge-led programmes which government is launching as part of the Energy Mission.
This includes:
- CleanTech innovation challenges to mobilise public and private sector investment and policy efforts spanning a variety of priority cleantech sectors. It will provide commercialisation support, monitoring and set targets
- Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund to address priority innovation gaps with a focus on energy network innovation
- additional UK Research and Innovation programmes on clean energy and growth with a focus on industrial strategy areas
These will combine to enable the innovation the UK needs to become a clean energy superpower.
Progress to date
GridFlex project
The GridFlex project will equip the UK’s energy sector to be future ready, by:
- strengthening the grid
- unlocking innovation
- driving industrial supply chain resilience
- advancing the UK’s clean power objectives
The UK Energy Research Centre report reviewed evidence on long-duration electricity storage (LDES) and low carbon dispatchable power (LCDP) technologies. It used a rapid evidence assessment of over 1,500 sources, expert elicitation across 25 workshops with 100 plus participants, and whole system energy modelling by Energy Systems Catapult. It identified five LDES and five LCDP technologies that are most promising for accelerated UK innovation funding and deployment by 2030 to 2035.
Jenny Hill, Challenge Director for Clean Energy, sets out how innovation in this area, from smarter use of electricity to new ways of storing power, could bring down household bills and put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future.
Ask a question about the Clean Energy Superpower mission
Contact: rdmapenergymission@ukri.org
We aim to respond within three working days.
Last updated: 5 November 2026