On Friday 21 October, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg announced the UK’s manufacturing industries will receive £211 million in new government funding for battery research and innovation.
The battery industry could support 100,000 jobs by 2040 and is central to the growth of key industries, such as electric vehicles and renewables, the Government says.
The Government says the record funding uplift will be delivered through the Faraday Battery Challenge, which began in 2017 and supports “world-class” scientific technology development and manufacturing scale-up capability for batteries in the UK.
It continues that the funding will help to “seize on opportunities” for private investment and economic growth in industries where powerful, fast-charging batteries will be essential – such as domestic energy storage and electric vehicles.
Safe and powerful batteries are central to our plans to grow the industries of the future.
The funding, from last year’s settlement, will be delivered between 2022 and 2025 by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with support from the Faraday Institution, Innovate UK and the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).
Speaking on a visit to the £130 million UKBIC, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “Safe and powerful batteries are central to our plans to grow the industries of the future. From our world-leading renewables industry to our growing electric vehicle sector, secure supplies of batteries are key to delivering jobs and prosperity.
“The Faraday Battery Challenge has brought the UK’s greatest minds and best facilities together to develop the innovations that will help us achieve this goal. The work it has done since 2017 has laid the groundwork for our future economic success and I am pleased to confirm this work will continue, supported by record funding.”