Future battery energy storage projects in the UK have been hit with a major blow after the government published its intention to lower the de-rating factor in capacity market auctions by almost 80% for 30 minute duration batteries.

On-site energy storage is “the way that you make the subsidy free package work” for large scale solar according to climate change minister Claire Perry who has pointed to Anesco’s Clay Hill solar farm as proof of why the technology so longer needs financial support from tax payers.

Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil’s Batwind project in Scotland, combining wind turbines with energy storage, will have a battery system installed by system integrator Younicos.

Northern Powergrid, one of the six distribution network operators (DNOs) responsible for delivering power across regions of the UK, is to plough £1.9 million (US$2.53 million) into the creation of a smart energy grid across its network, allowing its eight million customers to trade power and services using their home solar, battery systems and electric vehicles (EVs).

Verv, an energy monitoring and AI company, has laid claim to launching the UK’s first energy trading community at a housing estate in Hackney, East London.

Battery Energy Storage Solutions (BESS), an investor and would-be asset owner in the UK, has raised more than £50 million (US$66.18 million) of outside investment, setting its sights on making energy storage project acquisitions in Britain.

UK renewables and battery developer Anesco has warned that the looming de-rating of battery storage in the Capacity Market risks scaring investors away from the technology.

Eelpower has commissioned a 10MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in England, backed with both frequency response and capacity market contracts, in the first of a new pipeline of projects being planned by the company over the next decade.

The UK government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has refused to provide any clarity over when a decision on the potential de-rating of energy storage assets within the capacity market (CM) will be made despite a senior policy advisor stating the judgement is “imminent”.

A representative of National Grid, the UK’s transmission system operator (TSO), has said that energy storage will be “integral” to the network’s flexibility strategy – while urging developers not to rely solely on early frequency regulation contracts.