New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Weeding out the duds: what’s driving growth of long-duration energy storage in the UK
24/9/2025
8 min read
Feature
A big breakthrough or just another small forward step? One key part of the UK government’s drive to hit net zero targets is by boosting national energy storage to help smooth out gaps between supply of intermittent renewables and variation in electricity demand. In spring 2025, energy regulator Ofgem announced plans to incentivise the best schemes while weeding out the no-hopers. The industry is still digesting how this might work out to everyone’s benefit, reports Andrew Mourant.
The government continues to play catch-up in terms of driving storage provision. This has lagged far behind renewable generation projects already completed and those awaiting approval. There’s been a historic shortage of UK-based large-scale battery manufacturing. Storage demand can only grow with, for instance, the offshore wind sector hoping to see the largest capacity allocation – over 8 GW is expected – under the latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) process. Successful bidders are due to be announced either this December or in January 2026.
Currently, an estimated 6 GW of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity is operational in the UK. NESO, the UK’s nationalised energy system operator overseeing electricity transmission and plans for renewable energy deployment, intends to prioritise ‘ready-to-build' projects for connection offers. The idea is to remove the logjam holding up many schemes that have been granted planning consent.
NESO modelling claims that the UK will need at least 23 GW of battery storage by 2030 to decarbonise the grid. Industry sector group Battery Storage Coalition has long grumbled about this technology not being prioritised in the energy system ‘despite receiving no subsidies’. It complains of outdated regulations, market rules and ‘old NESO practices threatening investment and deployment’. Coalition members have over 70 battery storage sites either built or in planning across the UK, with 3.4 GW of operational capacity – more than half the UK total.