Making the commercial case for battery storage in the UK

In the lead up to the first Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) auction winners being announced later this week, SmartestEnergy has published a report on the challenges and opportunities for the UK’s battery storage pioneers.

The “Making the commercial case for battery storage” report is based on insight gathered from a survey of 45 battery storage developers. Almost nine out of ten said they had high levels of confidence that battery projects were viable and they see storage as playing an important role in contributing to a secure electricity future.

As the UK's leading aggregator of distribution connected generation and a first mover in the developing UK Demand Side Response market, SmartestEnergy is keen to help this new technology manage the challenge of converting that confidence into commercial reality.

Almost 70% of the battery innovators indicated that the biggest revenue opportunity they were looking to employ would come from grid services such as EFR contracts. However, these contracts are only available through one provider and with  a maximum term of only four years, fall short of the 5-10 year payback timeline expected by more than half of survey respondents.

Battery developers will therefore need to look beyond such contracts and towards companies like SmartestEnergy who will add additional value by actively managing and trading their battery's flexibility in volatile, traded energy markets. A future of actively managed, distribution connected generation and storage is not very far away.

Download the SmartestEnergy report here to read more about the commercial opportunities for battery storage - http://bit.ly/2bmIW5e