On 26 November, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch unveiled the Advanced Manufacturing Plan (AMP), which sets out the government’s initiative to “…ensure the UK is the best place in the world to start and grow a manufacturing business”.

The plan outlines key measures to improve the business environment and attract investment, including faster grid connections, full expensing and more apprenticeships. The UK government intends that the country uses its competitive advantage in manufacturing to become a world leader in the development of zero-emissions technology, taking advantage of the thousands of jobs on offer.

A cornerstone of the plan is the UK battery strategy, which brings together government activity to achieve a globally competitive battery supply chain by 2030, supporting economic prosperity and the net zero transition.

The strategy was developed with the UK battery strategy taskforce and is based around a “design-build-sustain” approach through which the UK will design and develop the batteries of the future; strengthen the resilience of UK manufacturing supply chains; and enable the development of a sustainable battery industry.

In terms of funding, the Government said it would provide targeted support for zero-emission vehicles, batteries, and their supply chains, including through over £2Bn (US$2.5Bn) of new capital and R&D funding for five years to 2030. Project Blue notes this funding was mentioned in the Autumn Statement, and is thus not additional to that pledge.

The UK will invest £38M (US$48M) to enhance the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre development facilities, boosting its capability for research and development in new chemistries and future technologies and building on know-how in lithium-ion solutions and enabling the scale-up of emerging innovations. It will also invest £12M (US$15M) in the Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre, a new battery materials scale-up facility to bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercial production.

While the additional funding and strategy is welcomed, being competitive in the battery space will be a significant challenge for the UK and the risks of falling behind are considerable. The (Sunday) announcement comes days after the FT reported that the UK risks losing a vital part of its car-making industry to Europe and the USA if it fails to attract battery investment within the next three years – citing an “influential group of MPs”. The article noted that the House of Commons business and trade select committee found that Britain lags far behind competitors in terms of attracting major battery manufacturers, though has the potential to beat European rivals, especially Germany, in making cleaner batteries. According to the FT, Liam Byrne, the committee chair, warned that the UK is on course to secure barely half of the electric battery capacity needed by its domestic car industry alone.

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