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

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.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • 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

“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.

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

July 4, 2025
Gamuda has partnered with landowners for a 1.2GW renewable energy and energy storage portfolio in Tasmania, Australia, which includes up to 600MW of energy storage capacity.
July 3, 2025
In Texas, Vitis Energy announces financial close of the Apache Hill Energy Centre while Enertis Applus+ provides independent engineering services for Excelsior Energy Capital.
July 3, 2025
Idaho Power’s updated integrated resource plan adds more solar, wind and energy storage than gas generation, while Public Service Company of New Mexico gets 450MW of solar and storage added to its resource application.
July 3, 2025
OptiGrid has partnered with Hepburn Energy to optimise a BESS at the 4.1MW Hepburn Wind Project in Victoria, Australia, using AI.
July 2, 2025
Utility company Ameren Missouri has filed an application with the Missouri public service commission (PSC) to construct a natural gas and battery storage facility in the state.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter