UK Battery Storage Pipeline Surges to 16GW

More than 16GW of battery storage capacity is operating, under construction or being planned in the UK across 729 projects.

This is up from 10.5GW across 600 projects identified in December 2019, according to RenewableUK’s latest Energy Storage Project Intelligence report.

The report identifies 1.1GW of battery storage capacity currently operational compared to 0.7GW in December 2019.

A further 0.6GW is under construction, 8.3GW of capacity is consented and 1.6GW is in the planning system.

Another 4.5GW are identified as being at an early stage of development for future submission into the planning system.

Secondary legislation came into force in December allowing local planning authorities to determine projects with a capacity of over 50MW in England and 350MW in Wales.

Previously these were determined by central government, making the process longer and more complex.

RenewableUK has identified 3 projects which have since been submitted for determination by local planning authorities with a capacity of 100MW each.

RenewableUK’s director of future electricity systems Barnaby Wharton said: "We’re already seeing grid-scale batteries of 50MW being built, providing valuable flexibility to the grid, and we expect many projects with an even larger capacity will be submitted into the planning system following the removal of the 50MW cap."

However, many projects need access to capital at a lower cost and more stable revenues, he said: "We’re hoping that the forthcoming update to the Smart System and Flexibility Plan will set out how the Government envisages making revenue streams for storage projects clearer.

"We also need a stable network charging regime and a long-term vision for the sector to encourage further investment by cutting-edge companies."