Battery storage: Additional 1.6GW if rules change
The paper claims that the predicted figures, an increase from the 24MW of existing capacity, would be brought about due to the technology’s ease of deployment and its attractiveness to investors, which Eunomia argue will lead to a fall in costs, leading to “exponential year-on-year growth.”
The study, ‘Investing in UK Electricity Storage’, focuses on battery innovations, while also providing analysis of a range of electricity storage applications as investment propositions, stating that advances in battery technology, along with the need for increased flexibility within the country’s electricity network, can help expand on the current “proof of concept” projects funded by the DECC or Ofgem.
Eunomia’s analysis cites ‘behind the meter’ applications, installed by home-owners, as the most attractive investment, while also emphasising the “major contribution” batteries could make to the distribution network, along with the potential for the technology to increase capacity for more renewable generation.
Adam Baddeley, head of energy at Eunomia and lead author of the report, is excited by the technology and believes that it is set to play a dramatically larger role in the UK electricity market.
“Only by understanding the market in depth will investors be able to identify the right opportunities. Our techno-economic modelling of different applications has shown that behind the meter solutions are already proving an attractive proposition and we are even beginning to see energy suppliers offering to install storage at the sites of energy intensive customers,” he said.
The report concedes that integrating batteries with solar PV or wind farms could be less attractive than other applications of the technology, while approximately 425GW of energy storage will be needed to support the planet's transition to 45% renewable energy by 2030, according the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
