UK Government Invests £89m in Net Zero Tech Projects

The UK government has invested £89 million (US$109 million) in 20 net zero tech projects, including hydrogen-powered off-road vehicles, a new lithium scale-up plant, and revolutionary new EV battery systems.

The funding package includes four collaborative R&D projects, five scale-up projects to assess if businesses in the automotive sector are ready for growth, and seven feasibility studies to prepare projects to develop large-scale manufacturing facilities in the UK.

£45.2 million of this investment comes from the government, backed by a further £42.7 million from the automotive industry.

Winners of the latest collaborative R&D competition funding include Aston Martin, which is accelerating the development of a luxury battery electric vehicle platform, and Perkins, which will develop a net-zero, hydrogen-hybrid integrated power system for off-road vehicles.

£11.3 million has also been awarded to 12 UK-based projects funded through the second instalment of the SuRV (Scale-up Readiness Validation) competition and the fourth round of the APC’s Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) feasibility studies competition.

The ATF’s Scale-up Readiness Validation (SuRV) projects will support scale-up projects to assess if businesses in the UK automotive supply chain are ready for growth and expansion.

Projects include Green Lithium, which plans to build a lithium scale-up plant in Teesside, and Ilika Technologies, which is working to accelerate the scale-up of Ilika’s solid state battery technology.

The ATF Feasibility Studies will produce decision-ready business cases, in preparation for projects which will develop large-scale manufacturing facilities in the UK.

The seven projects include Cornish Lithium, which is establishing a lithium processing plant in the UK to produce anode material for EV batteries, and Aberdeen Minerals Limited for the study of innovative mineral processing routes.

The support delivered through the APC is unlocking further private investment and supports the government’s ambitions to build an end-to-end supply chain for zero-emissions vehicles in the UK.

The UK government’s investment in net zero tech projects is a significant step forward in the UK’s transition to a clean energy future. The projects are expected to have a positive impact on the UK economy, environment, and global climate change mitigation efforts.