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UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: a complete funding guide for 2026

By Andrew Holden

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is the UK government department responsible for leading the country's transition to clean energy and achieving net zero emissions. In their own framing, they exist to move the UK to clean energy and net zero, running flagship programmes across the full breadth of the energy system: from hydrogen production and carbon capture to heat pump deployment and industrial decarbonisation.

DESNZ is a government department headquartered in the United Kingdom, funding exclusively within the UK. Their open-to-applications status is confirmed, though opportunities are rarely found on a single portal. Most are tendered or grant-competed through Find a Tender Service or delivered via Innovate UK as an intermediary. Cheque sizes vary considerably by programme, from household-level grants into the thousands of pounds through to multimillion-pound cluster sequencing contracts, so it is not practical to name a single typical figure.

What DESNZ funds

DESNZ's grantmaking spans the full technology stack of the energy transition, with particular depth in sectors that other funders avoid because of commercial complexity or long lead times. Their philosophy, as reflected in their flagship portfolios, is to share risk with the private sector at the stage where commercial models are not yet proven: pre-revenue hydrogen producers, early CCUS clusters, manufacturers transitioning away from fossil fuel heat, and building retrofit programmes that require local authority delivery.

Their current and recent programmes include:

  • Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP): a family of competitions funding low-carbon technology development across multiple sub-sectors, delivered through Innovate UK
  • Hydrogen Production Business Model: long-term revenue support for electrolytic and low-carbon hydrogen producers
  • CCUS Cluster Sequencing: capital and revenue support for carbon capture, utilisation, and storage projects tied to industrial clusters (Track-1 and Track-2 cohorts)
  • Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF): grants for energy-intensive manufacturers to reduce energy use and carbon emissions
  • Heat Pump Investment Accelerator: support for UK-based heat pump manufacturing and supply chain development
  • Warm Homes: Local Grant: household-level grants of up to £9,000 toward heat pump installation, available across England and Wales

Geographic focus

DESNZ funds exclusively within the United Kingdom. Individual programmes sometimes carry tighter geographic restrictions: the Warm Homes: Local Grant, for example, covers England and Wales only, meaning Scottish applicants would need to look to equivalent programmes delivered through the Scottish Government. Where CCUS or hydrogen programmes reference specific clusters (for example, the East Coast Cluster or HyNet), geographic eligibility is tied to physical infrastructure location rather than company headquarters.

If your project is based outside the UK, DESNZ is not a relevant funder. If you are a UK-registered entity with international operations, eligibility generally depends on where the funded activity takes place, not where your parent company sits.

Recent grants and awards

One confirmed award is worth examining because it illustrates the type of project DESNZ has backed:

  • H2GO Power Ltd (2022): $3,118,627 via the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme for the Smart Hydrogen-Gas Network (SHyGaN) concept. H2GO Power, a London-based company, was funded to develop innovative hydrogen integration into energy systems, with the broader programme targeting hydrogen's role in enabling net zero across industry and transportation.

This award is a useful signal. DESNZ backed a company that was pre-commercial, technically specific, and squarely aligned with a named programme's objectives. The Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme had explicit sector targets; H2GO Power's application presumably mapped directly onto those. That pattern holds across most DESNZ competitions: the strongest applications cite the programme's own theory of change, not just the technology's general merits.

We will update this section as more award data becomes available. The DESNZ funder profile on Raise Lens will reflect new grants as they are confirmed.

How to get on their radar

DESNZ does not operate a single application portal. The practical entry points depend on which programme you are targeting:

  • For NZIP competitions and IETF rounds, the application route runs through Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS). If you do not have an IFS account, create one before any competition opens; accounts with incomplete organisation profiles are a common reason for late or failed submissions.
  • For hydrogen and CCUS business models, procurement is managed through Find a Tender Service. These are structured differently from grant competitions: they often involve expressions of interest, followed by detailed feasibility or development agreement stages. Expect a longer timeline than a typical grant round.
  • For Warm Homes: Local Grant, contact your local authority directly. The grant flows through councils, not to individual households via DESNZ.

Three things a founder can do now to prepare:

Map your project to a named programme. DESNZ competitions are sector-specific and technology-specific. Reviewing the published programme guidance (available on GOV.UK for each scheme) before a round opens will show you the exact criteria assessors use. Aligning your language to those criteria, rather than writing a general capability pitch, is the single most effective thing you can do.

Track consultation and announcement activity on GOV.UK. DESNZ publishes calls for evidence and programme consultations weeks or months before a formal competition opens. Responding to those consultations gets your organisation known to the policy team and gives you advance sight of what the programme will prioritise. The GOV.UK news feed for DESNZ is worth subscribing to directly.

Understand the cluster logic for CCUS and hydrogen. If you are targeting CCUS Cluster Sequencing or the Hydrogen Production Business Model, your eligibility may be tied to joining an existing industrial cluster (HyNet, East Coast Cluster, etc.). Engaging with cluster operators directly, before a round opens, is a prerequisite rather than an optional step.

Use this in Raise Lens

  • View DESNZ's funder profile on Raise Lens to see every active programme and recent grant pattern in one place, without having to track multiple GOV.UK pages.
  • Save DESNZ to a Watchlist so you receive a notification the moment a new programme is listed or an existing round refreshes, particularly for NZIP and IETF competitions that open with limited notice.
  • Filter /opportunities by funder "UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero" to keep their open calls in your weekly pipeline review alongside other non-dilutive options you are tracking.
  • When a fitting opportunity opens, use /draft to generate a first-pass application structured around DESNZ's stated priorities, so you are not starting from a blank page on a tight competition timeline.

DESNZ runs some of the largest non-dilutive programmes available to UK climate founders, but their competition windows are short and their criteria are specific. Staying close to their programme calendar is as important as the application itself. Start at the DESNZ funder profile on Raise Lens to track everything in one place.