Underground hydrogen storage: Competition briefing webinar and applicant surgeries

Overview

Discover funding opportunities to accelerate underground hydrogen storage in the UK. 

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is developing two funding opportunities to support Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS), as part of its £28 million Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage Challenge. 

Join the briefing webinar on 28 October to learn about the competitions, understand the requirements and connect with potential project partners. 

About the competitions: 

• UHS Collaborative Testing and Validation: Supporting the development and validation of critical technologies for safe, reliable and cost-effective underground hydrogen storage, including materials, compressors, metering, monitoring, testing and certification
• UHS DEVEX: Supporting projects to develop commercially credible, investment-ready demonstrator propositions, targeting initial MWh-scale deployment by 2030 and a pathway towards GWh-scale deployment by 2035

The webinar will cover the scope and requirements of both competitions, expected outcomes and the application process, with opportunities to ask questions and build consortia. 

Innovate UK Business Connect will support networking and consortium building, helping organisations identify potential collaborators and develop strong applications. 

Who should attend? 

Businesses, SMEs, universities, research organisations, RTOs, technology developers, infrastructure owners and operators, and organisations working across hydrogen storage, materials, engineering, testing, monitoring, hydrogen supply and commercialisation are encouraged to attend. 

Applicant surgeries 

Following the webinar, dedicated surgeries will provide opportunities to ask competition-specific questions and clarify requirements as you develop your proposal. 

Key dates 

• Competitions open: 23 October 2026
• Competition briefing webinar: 28 October 2026, 11am to 12:30pm
• UHS Collaborative Testing and Validation surgery: 3 November 2026, 11am to 12:30pm (including an opportunity to pitch) 
• UHS DEVEX surgery: 5 November 2026, 11am to 12pm
• Competitions close: 13 January 2027, 11am 

Partnering platform

Innovate UK Business Connect has launched a dedicated B2Match partnering platform to support prospective applicants with partnership development and consortium building for these competitions.

What can you do on the platform?

• Post on the marketplace: Share information about your project idea, outline what you need help with, or describe the types of connections you’re hoping to make
• Message individuals directly: Prefer one-to-one contact? No problem! Reach out to people directly to see if you’d be a good match to work together
• Book a session with a potential collaborator: These sessions are designed to help you quickly assess each other’s interests and expertise, identify common goals, and uncover synergies

The platform is open to everyone interesting in these competitions, and not exclusive to those attending one of the event. You can sign up directly using the link below.

Days to go

Event details

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