How can energy storage help the UK's energy supply?

Energy storage technologies offer huge potential for the UK’s energy supply. The industry can deliver significant benefits for both system stability and security of supply as well as helping decarbonise UK energy supplies.

Should electricity storage be formalised as a subset of generation?

Formalising electricity storage as a distinct subset of generation removes current ambiguities and provides long term clarity and certainty over its treatment within the existing frameworks (e.g. planning and licensing) and possible future frameworks.

What is the UK energy storage group?

The REA launched the UK Energy Storage group to help the industry reach its potential and this has now grown to over 100 member companies active across a range of technologies and scales. Storage technologies can be deployed at different scales on a distributed and/or centralised basis.

What is energy storage?

The Electricity Act 1989, the main piece of legislation governing electricity in Great Britain, was updated by the Energy Act 2023, effective December 26, 2023, and now includes a definition of energy storage: “ energy that was converted from electricity and is stored for the purpose of its future reconversion into electricity.

Does the UK have a framework for energy storage?

Until the much-awaited Energy Act 2023 was issued, the UK legislative arsenal did not include a specific framework for energy storage.

Why are we legislating electricity storage?

Why are we legislating? Electricity storage covers a range of technologies that store low carbon energy for when it is needed, for example in batteries on the wall of your home or business, or in facilities that pump water to higher reservoirs when electricity is abundant, and let it flow back down through a turbine when it is scarce.