Innovators with cutting edge battery tech ideas and projects have been awarded grants of up to £907k by the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC).
Twenty pioneering firms in power storage are to benefit from the FBC, a contest delivered by Innovate UK under the aegis of UK Research and Innovation.
The FBC aims to accelerate the development and commercialisation of state-of-the-art battery technologies in Britain and support growth of the supply chain in the nation’s battery sector.
The competition was open to two types of projects, covering early stage feasibility studies, and more advanced R&D, with a total of £11 million in funding support available.
Applicants were assessed on their projects’ potential to be cost-effective, long-lasting, and sustainable, helping Britain’s automotive sector meets its Net Zero commitments.
Successful proposals included:
Project DANCER – a collaboration between Echion Technologies and Warwick Manufacturing Group, which has been awarded two grants totalling £1.46 million to target the swift commercialisation of Echion’s fast-charging battery material (XNO) to improve lithium-ion battery performance. The projects focus is on developing a unique cell design that meets customer specifications and exceeds 2025+ automotive market requirements.
Project AEROPROOF – Led by Thermulon Ltd, in collaboration with University of Southampton and CPI, the project has been awarded grants totalling just under £550,000, which looks to use Thermulon’s superinsulating aerogels to reduce thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries; where a cell heats in an uncontrolled manner, breaching the safe operating temperature and triggering a domino effect on the rest of the module. The project will develop the UK’s first aerogel-based EV thermal runaway barrier, designed to prevent such thermal incidents.
Project LIBerate – A new project led by Cellmine Ltd, in collaboration with RS Bruce and the University of St Andrews, LIBerate has been awarded just over £525,000. The project aims to improve the recycling of lithium batteries, which has proved a significant challenge for the sector. With 730,000 tonnes of battery waste expected by 2030 per year, the project’s innovative processes could revolutionise the recycling of cathode metals to prevent unsustainable landfill waste for the UK.
Faraday Battery Challenge director Tony Harper said “The flourishing UK battery technology industry will play a critical role in meeting our Net Zero targets and decarbonising the transport sector. We want to accelerate its growth, generate high value and high tech jobs, and also support individual projects that have significant potential to improve the performance of batteries.
This new round of funding enables us to support companies across the battery supply value chain and build on the UK’s world class research and innovation.
Other grant winners include:
Innovation and Feasibility
- Batri Ltd
- Gencoa Ltd
- Illumion Ltd
- Fluorok Ltd
- Upgrade Technology Engineering Ltd
- The Graphene Corporation Ltd
- Cdo2 Ltd
- Thermulon Ltd
- Altilium Metals Ltd
- Baruch Enterprises Ltd
- Hy-Met Ltd
Innovation and collaborative R&D
- Breathe Battery Technologies Ltd
- Sigma Lithium Ltd
- Ionetic Ltd
- Echion Technologies Ltd
- Kw Special Projects Ltd
- Avocet Battery Materials Ltd
- Cellmine Ltd
- Eatron Technologies Ltd
More on UKRI’s Faraday Battery Challenge is here.
