Electricity storage needs ‘clear government strategy’

Electricity storage needs a clear strategy from the government, in the same way as other parts of energy policy, the Electricity Storage Network (ESN) has advised.

The group’s director Anthony Price told Utility Week that the sector is currently “in limbo” as the government comes up with a sustainable energy policy, in which the role of storage is “not crystal clear”.

“The first thing we need is a strategy, in the same way as we’ve got a strategy for other parts of energy policy,” he said. “They have a strategy for nuclear, they have a strategy for solar, a strategy for wind, for electric vehicles, heat pumps and everything else, but there’s no strategy for one of the key building blocks.”

He added that energy policy is a “legislative mess” and that changes are needed to ensure electricity storage is represented as a separate asset class, giving the industry “confidence to go ahead”. “It’s gone from being nice to have a few years ago, to being actually now pretty essential,” he insisted.

ESN has called for a target for storage written into a strategy, and clarification of how that target could be achieved.

The group said it doesn’t support a “straight-out subsidy” or a specific support mechanism for storage, but it wants either clarification of subsidies and support given to other parts of the industry, or “removal of all subsidies in the energy industry”. “Then at least everyone would know where they stood,” Price said.

Energy storage was recently thrust into the public eye, with the launch of Tesla’s domestic and utility-scale energy storage batteries in May, followed by a spate of announcements from UK technology firms hoping to cash in on the potential of the technology.

British start-up Powervault announced in mid-June that it had raised £700,000 through investment crowdfunding and claimed it will “take on Tesla” by installing 50,000 2kWh and 4kWh home energy storage systems in the UK by 2020.

Moixa Energy announced in July that it would raise £875,000 to install its storage systems at one million sites by 2020. So far, the firm has raised £143,570. 

Currently, Good Energy is conducting trials with Moixa to explore the extent to which its technology could be useful in managing renewables variability and promoting domestic energy efficiency. The energy supplier is intending to launch an electricity storage proposition for its customers by April next year.

Last week, Tesla told Utility Week it will make its Powerwall energy storage battery available to customers in the UK from early 2016.

Read Utility Week’s analysis on energy storage here.