Our Clean Energy Challenges are designed to improve system efficiency, cut emissions, lower bills, boost energy security, and create new opportunities for UK innovation and economic growth.
We’ve identified two major innovation opportunities to support a system with high-levels of variable renewables, 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 back-up for renewables, 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 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 of peak time grid flexibility by 2030. Interventions will go ‘Beyond Demo’, by investing in real-world solutions which endure beyond the conclusion of the programme.
Long Duration Energy Storage
We are developing a Challenge focussed on affordable ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage, supporting the commercialisation and deployment of technologies capable of discharging power over durations over 100 hours.
Launching in August 2026.
Objectives
Consumer Led Flexibility Challenge
We will:
- deliver at least 2GW of additional peak demand-side flexibility 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 100k low-income homes in areas of excess generation and high constraints
How we will do it
We are achieving this mission through the following funding:
- £25m 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
- Sandpit: market access acceleration in consumer led flexibility (funding opportunity now closed)
Upcoming opportunities include:
- £20m Demand Turn-up trial
- electrochemical LDES, hydrogen storage and V2X
The Clean Energy 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 strategic innovation fund for funding to address priority innovation gaps with a focus on energy network innovation
- additional UKRI 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, strengthening the grid, unlocking innovation, driving industrial supply chain resilience and advancing the UK’s Clean Power objectives.
Ask a question about the Clean Energy Superpower mission
Contact: RDMAPEnergyMission@ukri.org
We aim to respond within three working days.
Last updated: 23 July 2026