Since 2017, the UK battery energy storage market has been increasing, with AceOn at the forefront of many technological and developmental innovations in the sector. Over the course of the past five years, we have seen significant growth in utility-scale energy storage throughout the UK, which bodes well for our immediate future as we look to accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels.
A record-breaking year in 2022 for energy storage
In 2022 alone, the United Kingdom added 800MWh of new utility energy storage capacity, which takes the UK’s collective battery energy storage to record levels. That being said, there’s still a long way to go if we’re to truly realise the potential of energy storage. By 2030, we hope to see GWh additions, given the huge increase in demand that we foresee over the course of the coming decade and beyond.
Battery energy storage deployment in the UK
Satara Energy launched the first major utility-scale battery energy storage project in 2017, and since then, a number of other large-scale projects have been implemented throughout the UK. All projects launched in 2021 and 2022 were at least 20MW in size, with the majority at least 50MW. To show how far we’ve come in a short space of time, there was only one 50MW project in 2017, and in 2022 there were nine such projects.
Today, there is now 2.4GW/2.6GW across 161 sites of operational energy storage in the United Kingdom, and planning has already been approved on 33 sites, which are set to be completed by 2026. This is part of the UK government’s commitment to an increased energy storage pipeline in the country, which suggests a highly promising future for the UK energy storage market.
The potential of utility-scale battery energy storage
Utility-scale battery storage solutions play a fundamental role in the integration of variable energy resources in the UK. The reason why they’re so valuable is that they enable the optimal use of variable electricity sources like solar and wind and take a lot of the pressure off the national grid. By improving the way that we store renewable energy, we are likely to see significant progress towards our collective climate goals. Lithium-ion battery storage technology is the most popular and sought-after solution, and it will continue to play a hugely significant role in the progression of climate-friendly energy systems in the coming years. At AceOn, we envisage utility-scale battery energy storage to be key in practically every industry, thanks to the huge cost savings and environmental benefits that it boasts.
