Harder now to make business case to developers for batteries at EV charging stations in UK

October 6, 2022
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

The business case for developers to use large batteries at EV charging stations instead of upgrading electricity networks in the UK is now harder to make after recent changes in regulations.

Panellists discussed the topic in the ‘Batteries Vs. Grid Upgrades – When Is Installing A Battery The Cheaper Option To Support Deploying Chargers?’ session yesterday (5 October) at the EV World Congress, a two-day event put on by Energy-Storage.news’ parent company Solar Media.

“From next April, developers won’t be paying for those grid upgrades, it will be the DNOs (Distribution Network Operators) so that price signal has disappeared. So right now, it’s hard to make a case for stationary batteries to reduce costs for the developers,” said Simon Gallagher, managing director of eSmart Networks, which provides EV charging infrastructure installations and renewable energy connection solutions.

Paul Jewell, system development manager at DNO Western Power, agreed but said there were still some opportunities for battery energy storage systems. This could be for Western Power’s own process of upgrading its infrastructure to accommodate new EV charging capacity, or as a short-term solution for developers waiting for the infrastructure upgrade they need to be completed.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

As Energy-Storage.news has extensively written, BESS units are increasingly being deployed at EV charging stations in cases where the local grid cannot provide the high-power connection the chargers need, or as a more economic alternative to upgrading the power lines.

EV charging parks can also use on-site batteries to optimise the EV charging station’s consumption, both in terms of the price/kWh and renewable energy mix.

Grazia Todeschini, reader in engineering, Kings College London, pointed out that 22TWh of energy will be needed by 2030 needed to charge the anticipated number of EVs on the road in the UK.

The original version of this story first appeared in Current±’s rolling coverage of day one of the EV World Congress.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

October 28, 2025
Eos announced its move to Pennsylvania, US, as well as agreements for energy storage projects with Talen Energy and MN8 Energy.
October 28, 2025
AEMO has reported a record 56.6GW of new generation and storage capacity in the National Electricity Market (NEM) development pipeline.
Premium
October 27, 2025
RedEarth’s Marc Sheldon admits that the company decided to push back the launch of Australia’s first locally manufactured V2G charger.
October 24, 2025
Energy Vault has acquired a 150MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Texas. Meanwhile, Jupiter Power has entered an agreement with Austin Energy to provide 100MW of electricity from a BESS facility.
October 23, 2025
Calibrant Energy will deliver a 31MW/62MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Aligned Data Centres’ campus in the Pacific Northwest area of the US.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter