BESS route-to-market (RTM) and optimisation firms in the UK are increasingly looking at a wider variety of contracting mechanisms beyond the revenue-share or ‘merchant’ model, developer-operator Eku Energy told Energy-Storage.news.

The implications of larger projects, revenue streams of projects, and grid connection issues were discussed on a panel at the ESS EU event in London.

Battery storage systems are “perhaps the most complex energy asset to optimise” from a market perspective, but the UK industry is handling those challenges.

This week’s Friday Briefing is largely concerned with the UK’s current period of low revenues for battery storage and how the market can move forward.

Another roundup of news in brief from the UK’s busy energy storage market with project and financial news from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, and a tax break for home batteries.

UK energy storage fund manager Harmony Energy has said revenues in 2023 were significantly lower than 2022, postponing its dividend, after peer Gresham House said the same thing earlier in the week.

The UK battery storage market is suffering a “weak revenue environment”, with assets not able to participate in balancing the GB grid or replacing gas-fired generation to their fullest capability, according to Gresham House Energy Storage Fund.

Market analytics firm Modo Energy recorded the lowest average revenue levels to-date for UK BESS projects in December 2023, the firm said.

With leading US energy storage markets on a phenomenal growth trajectory, the role of BESS has been highlighted by recent heatwaves.

UK-based energy industry data platform company Modo Energy’s monthly Revenue Benchmark has found that battery energy storage revenues in the country increased by 53% between June and July.