Energy Storage Applications Rising ‘Rapidly’

There has been a rise in planning applications for battery storage projects across the UK, according to research by RenewableUK. This welcome news follows recent predictions that the UK’s energy storage needs to drastically increase to meet carbon emissions targets.

Project Intelligence,’ a recent report by RenewableUK, shows that the total capacity of battery storage planning applications has risen to over 10,500 megawatts (MW), a vast increase from the 6,900MW a year ago. For context, this figure is enough to fully charge over a million electric vehicles.

The report further notes that the market has developed “extremely rapidly” – in 2012, applications stood at just 2MW. In the last 12 months, the number of UK companies involved in the energy storage sector has risen from 300 to more than 450, while the average battery project size has increased from 27MW to 28MW.

“As we build the net-zero energy system of the future based on renewables, we’re changing the way we manage the entire network, using a wide variety of extraordinarily innovative storage technologies. The pace of change in the industry is hugely exciting… Energy storage has reached a tipping point with major companies entering this new market, providing new services to guarantee the security.”

 – Barnaby Wharton, RenewableUK’s director of future electricity systems.

renewable energy solar panels

After the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy agreed earlier this year to change planning rules, RenewableUK expects the number of energy storage projects to continue to rise. The changes to rules also means we can expect an increasing number of grid-scale battery projects of over 50MW.

With such as vast range of experience, no planning consultancy is better suited to tackle the issues surrounding climate change and moving towards zero-carbon as we are. We are happy to work with local authorities and developers to ensure that all elements of the planning process make the essential impact to meet the Government’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.  Contact us to find out how we can help. You can also find us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the work we do!

Share this:

Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Skip to content