Morning, Friday, 21st November 2025
Online
This conference will discuss next steps for the battery sector in the UK. It will bring key stakeholders and policymakers together to examine priorities for investment, and growing domestic capacity and the battery market, alongside supporting the commercialisation of research.
Delegates will assess how the sector can best respond to opportunities set out in the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan - which identifies batteries as a strategic subsector - alongside the accompanying funding and policy commitments in the 2025 Spending Review. We also expect the discussion to bring out considerations for the Policy Commission on Gigafactories - chaired by Lord Hutton - as it prepares to publish its findings and recommendations early in 2026 on scaling-up battery manufacturing capacity in the UK.
Industrial Strategy
Priorities for the UK Battery Strategy Taskforce will be discussed, including coordination in delivery of sector and policy ambitions for building a globally competitive battery supply chain for the UK by 2030. Next steps for strengthening battery manufacturing will be a focus, alongside accelerating infrastructure-readiness for strategic sites.
Delegates will examine strategies for securing the UK supply chain and domestic manufacturing capacity, addressing challenges such as access to critical minerals and high energy costs - with the UK Trade Strategy highlighting the continued need to import batteries to support domestic production of electric vehicles.
Commercialisation of research
Sessions consider priorities for accelerating innovation and scale-up of high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises, including how initiatives such as the Battery Innovation Programme can best support the transition from research to commercial readiness.
Attendees will examine the mix of private and public funding in supporting innovation, scale-up, and supply chain development, and priorities for the British Business Bank’s Industrial Strategy Growth Capital fund in supporting firms to attract private capital.
Gigafactories
The agenda will assess the progress and direction of the Policy Commission on Gigafactories, looking at priorities for gigafactory deployment in scaling-up battery manufacturing capacity.
Tackling barriers to deployment will be discussed, including what is needed from measures to streamline grid connections and reform planning processes to provide greater certainty for investment in gigafactories. Priorities for local authority involvement and workforce planning will be considered, as well as transport and energy infrastructure coordination.
Global competitiveness & circular economy
Further sessions will address persistent challenges in maintaining competitiveness and investor confidence - such as high energy costs and access to finance - and their influence on appetite for UK-based development and project viability.
Delegates will consider implications of tightening international standards, including the EU Batteries Regulation. Discussion will focus on what is needed from regulation to consistently support trade and market access.
Attendees will also look at options for safe disposal and recycling frameworks, with the ESA recently highlighting the Growing Fire Risk from Batteries Hidden in our Waste and calling for reform to mandate kerbside collections for waste batteries.
Wider decarbonisation & workforce priorities
In the context of frameworks such as the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and forthcoming Low Carbon Flexibility Roadmap, discussion will examine the wider impact of policy choices on regional industrial growth, system flexibility, and circular infrastructure.
Overview of areas for discussion
- industrial strategy and public funding:
- implications of the Sector Plan, 2025 Spending Review and Competitiveness Scheme
- priority use cases and sector planning: next-generation automotive platforms, modular grid storage, and aerospace electrification
- focus on infrastructure-readiness for strategic sites - impact on investor confidence, site development, and public-private coordination
- adoption and commercialisation of research:
- role of the Innovation Programme and Strategy Taskforce - links from scientific advances to commercial applications and economic productivity
- options: access to pilot-scale production - strengthened IP protections - streamlining early-stage funding applications
- investment and growth: the Growth Capital Fund - attracting private finance and scaling-up new entrants
- gigafactory pipeline and regional development:
- Policy Commission on Gigafactories - priorities for deployment and project implications
- regional regeneration and growth - job creation strategies - investment in industrial clusters, development of skills and talent pipelines
- supply resilience and critical minerals: progress under DRIVE35 and the UK Critical Minerals Strategy - diversified sourcing and processing for long-term supply security
- regulation and international focus: the EU Batteries Regulation - competitiveness - supporting export - compliance costs
- battery lifecycle and reuse: second-life use - safe disposal, recycling, and recovery infrastructure - the Circular Economy Strategy - logistics systems, waste regulation, and environmental outcomes
- demand and electric vehicle uptake: impact of the new electric vehicle purchase grant - support for domestic demand and international competitiveness
- energy security: maximising battery storage contribution to decarbonisation and system flexibility - peak demand management, grid integration, and resilience
- workforce and regional development: regional education and training needs linked to manufacturing clusters - infrastructure priorities, and local economic plans
- competitiveness and resilience: investment confidence - workforce development - sector contribution to long-term industrial sustainability in a low-carbon economy
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include parliamentary pass-holders from both Houses of Parliament and officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Department for Transport; Department for Business and Trade; Department of Health and Social Care; Department for the Economy, NI; Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; Climate Change Committee; Transport Scotland; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, ROI; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
