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New research from Renewable UK has revealed the pipeline of UK battery storage projects has doubled in the last 12 months.
The trade body’s EnergyPulse Energy Storage report shows the total pipeline of battery projects has swelled from 16.1GW a year ago to 32.1GW.
Operational battery storage capacity has grown by 45%, from 1.1GW to 1.6GW, whilst the amount under construction has more than doubled to 1.4GW.
A further 10.4GW has been consented, 7.7GW has been submitted into the planning system and 10.9GW is in development but has yet to submit a planning application.
At nearly1.4GW of fully commissioned battery storage projects, England has the highest capacity, as well as the largest volume of planning applications at almost 6.2GW.
Renewable UK said the “staggering” growth has been driven mainly by a change in legislation in December 2020 which allowed local planning authorities to award planning permission to project with a capacity of over 50MW in England and 350MW in Wales.
Previously the process was longer and more complex as consent was granted by the central government. The change in the law however has seen a shift towards larger projects, with the average size increasing to 54MW.
Nearly one fifth of the total pipeline of battery storage (6.1GW) is co-located with solar energy projects, with most of these in England (5.3GW). Renewable UK said this represents an almost three-fold increase in battery storage capacity co-located with solar farms since its last report a year ago.
Barnaby Wharton, the trade body’s director of future electricity systems, said: “The fact that the battery storage pipeline has doubled within the space of twelve months shows that the enormous appetite among investors for this technology is continuing to grow fast.
“But developers still need access to cheaper capital. Government can help by setting out a long-term vision for the sector, including a clearer and more stable route to market for energy storage.
“Although we’re making great progress, we’re still some way from delivering the 30GW of operational flexibility which the government requires by 2030.”
Around 3GW of battery storage (1.1GW of de-rated capacity) secured agreements in the latest four-year-ahead Capacity Market auction in February. A recent report from the consultancy LCP found that greater scarcity and higher, more volatile prices in power markets are driving a shift to longer-duration battery storage.
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