The aim of this competition is to:

• support an SME’s research and development for the scale-up of battery technologies within the UK
• support an SME to access the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) and demonstrate technologies at suitable scales to customers
• increase engagement with UKBIC
• move UK battery innovations from technological potential towards commercial capability
• develop and secure material and manufacturing supply chains for battery technologies in the UK

Your proposal must demonstrate that you have developed or proven your innovation to a technology readiness level (TRL) 5 or above.

Your proposal must clearly demonstrate:

• the current maturity of your product or innovation including scale, yield and quality
• the work done to date to validate and prove your technology at its current level of maturity
• that your product or innovation is appropriate for, and compatible with the giga-scale pilot-line production facilities at UKBIC, for example, material and scale compatibility
• how you intend to use the UKBIC giga-scale pilot-line facilities
• the availability of materials and consumables for the project
• the nature of the outputs expected from the project
• if applicable, the volume of product expected at the end of the project
• how you will validate product performance
• how the project will accelerate your route to market
• how you will engage with customers during and following the project
• how the project outputs and outcomes will facilitate customer engagement

UKBIC operates an advanced and high throughput but conventional Li-ion process line. This means that not all materials or processes will be compatible. Solid State processes are not viable on the existing line at this stage.

Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, technological maturities, with moderation from UKBIC. We call this a portfolio approach.

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Specific themes

Your project is expected to help build and secure the UK supply chain for battery technologies.

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

• complete electrode and cell manufacturing processes
• electrode manufacturing processes at scale
• new electrode formulations at scale, including those utilising alternative solvents, line compatibility to be confirmed dependent on specific solvent and material
• trial novel mixing, coating, slitting and calendering, line-side and online gauging, measurement and visions systems

You can also focus on alternative materials or processes that will yield manufacturing energy reduction at scale, for example:

• materials or processes. not equipment or monitoring, that reduce the need for very dry electrode handling environment
• reduced electrode drying energy whilst maintaining electrode performance and characteristics

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