Clean Energy R&D Funding in the UK: What Is Open Now and Who Should Apply

The clean energy R&D calls worth looking at right now are two underground hydrogen storage competitions that opened on 23 October 2026 and close on 13 January 2027, plus a low carbon concrete cohort closing on 2 December 2026. Most of the other big energy calls have not launched yet. Everything below was read from the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) and UKRI pages on 2026-10-26, and dates and funds can change, so check the live listing before you plan around any of them.

One honest point first: these are narrow, specific competitions. Several of them are consortium plays with a large minimum grant. For many clean energy companies the right answer this month will be "not this one, wait for the next".

What is open now (as of 2026-10-26)

Both hydrogen calls sit under UKRI's R&D Missions Accelerator Programme, within the Clean Energy Superpower Mission, and are run by Innovate UK. The figures below come from the competition pages on the Innovation Funding Service.

The concrete call is decarbonisation rather than energy supply, so it will only be relevant to some readers. We have included it because, unlike the hydrogen calls, it takes single applicants.

Underground hydrogen storage: component testing

This is an industrial research competition, and the page says feasibility studies are out of scope. The project must be one integrated consortium programme covering three themes: materials, compressors, and components for metering and monitoring. The competition page lists projects that address only one or two of the three themes as out of scope, along with disconnected activities without a cohesive structure.

• Duration: 24 to 30 months, starting 1 May 2027 and ending by 30 November 2029.
• Consortium: at least two grant-claiming partners, plus an end user or storage developer or operator (or a letter from one), and UK testing and certification organisations where capacity exists.
• Funding rates: up to 70% for micro and small organisations, 60% for medium and 50% for large. Research organisations can claim up to 100%, or 80% of full economic cost for academic institutions.
• Briefing: an online briefing on 28 October 2026 and an Innovate UK Business Connect surgery on 2 November 2026 at 11am.

The page does not state technology readiness levels. It refers to the starting and target maturity of each technology, so do not assume a TRL band without asking Innovate UK. For how the rates above work in practice, see our explainer on Innovate UK intervention rates.

Underground hydrogen storage: demonstrator DEVEX

This one funds project development studies for a specific, site-based UK demonstrator. It is a feasibility-category call: projects start at front-end loading stage 1 or 2 (FEL-1 or FEL-2) and must reach FEL-3 completion, over 6 to 12 months. The competition page says the demonstrator should target initial deployment of 10 to 100 MWh by 2030 and achieve at least 100 continuous hours of discharge availability.

The eligible storage routes named on the page are engineered lined shafts, subsurface silos or vertical pipe arrays, engineered lined rock caverns, depleted oil and gas fields, and novel salt caverns with conditions. The page excludes laboratory-scale work, individual components not tied to a site, and above-ground or transportable storage as the main solution. Applicants are notified on 13 February 2027, and the briefing and surgery are on 28 October and 5 November 2026.

One thing to check on the live listing: the page we read gives a project start of "by 1 April 2027" in the eligibility section and 1 May 2027 in the timeline. Confirm which applies before you plan the project.

Calls announced but not yet open

UKRI's future funding opportunities page (last updated 20 October 2026) lists these energy-related opportunities. It gives launch months only, not dates, and several totals are marked "to be confirmed", so treat them as provisional.

• Hydrogen R&D competition: November 2026, total fund of £10 million to be confirmed, hydrogen storage, technology-agnostic.
• Consumer-led Flexibility, Scaling Interoperable V2X: November 2026, total fund of £18 million to be confirmed.
• Consumer-led Flexibility, investor partnerships: January 2027, total fund of £15 million, maximum award to be confirmed.

UKRI says standard opportunities are usually open for at least eight weeks, which is our reading of how much notice you will get, not a guarantee. The investor partnership route works differently from a standard grant; our investor partnerships guide explains how.

Who should not apply

The competition pages set the bar, so use them to rule yourself out early:

• You cannot assemble a consortium by January. The component testing call needs an end user, a storage developer or operator and UK testing bodies. Cold-starting those relationships in under three months is difficult. Innovate UK Business Connect runs a partner-finding tool, which is the place to begin.
• Your product is a single component. The DEVEX call excludes components not integrated into a site-specific project, and the testing call excludes projects covering only one or two themes.
• Hydrogen is not your core focus. Production, transport and end use are out of scope for DEVEX as the main focus.
• You need money before spring 2027. Notification for DEVEX is 13 February 2027 and projects start in April or May.

Both pages also say, based on similar competitions, that applicants could have a 20% chance of success, and that a portfolio approach may apply. Weigh the cost of a consortium bid against those odds. A 20% figure from the funder is a reason to be selective, not a reason to avoid applying where you are a genuine fit.

How to decide in an afternoon

1. Read the scope section of the competition page and tick off every "must" and every exclusion against your project.
2. Check the lead and partner rules. Companies House registration matters, and FC and BR prefixes are not treated as eligible.
3. Check your cost shape against the grant request limits and the funding rate for your organisation size.
4. Count the weeks. Innovate UK recommends contacting them at least 15 working days before close on DEVEX, and the first surgery falls in the first fortnight.
5. If it is still a yes, book the briefing and start partner conversations that week.

Where GrantHero fits

Finding these calls is the easy part; deciding which are worth your time is where most of the effort goes. GrantHero matches your company profile to live competitions and runs eligibility fit checks, and where a competition is not a fit we say so. For applications you do pursue, experienced grant experts work alongside the platform on scoping, drafting support and review. As listed on our pricing page on 2026-10-26, matching and fit checks are on the Discovery plan at £0, and Expert Support is £1,300 plus a 3% success fee. Our net zero page covers the wider sector.