The UK’s energy regulator has taken what appears to be an encouraging viewpoint on “double charging” of energy storage, clarifying the definition of the technology’s role in the grid, according to one expert view.

According to the latest GTM Research figures, energy storage is coming into its own and is no longer confined to a handful of US states. 21 states now have 20MW of storage projects proposed, in construction or deployed. Further, 10 states have pipelines of more than 100MW.

A multi-million pound EU funded project is set to provide the Isles of Scilly with a new smart energy system, using new software platforms to manage supply and demand through renewables, energy storage and electric vehicles.

A new project is set to test the feasibility of turning a UK car park into a MW-scale battery to provide power on demand to the electricity grid from electric vehicles.

A new joint venture has been established to fund early stage energy storage and renewable energy projects in the UK, beginning with two of the winning projects from National Grid’s Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) tender.

UK firm Open Energi’s Dynamic Demand technology has been integrated with Europe’s first grid-scale Tesla Powerpack installation in Somerset, UK, in preparation for the site entering the firm frequency response (FFR) tendering market.

The potential for storage to help stabilise the grid has finally been recognised in the UK, where battery projects took all of the 200MW on offer in a recent frequency response tender. David Pickup looks at the evolving role of storage in the future grid and how further policy support can help it flourish.

There have been modest year-on-year increases in the number of PV installers in Germany and the UK offering energy storage to their customers, according to a survey by EUPD Research.

Listed funds in the UK which own a significant portion of the country’s utility-scale solar PV assets are not currently convinced by battery storage’s feasibility, but remain primed to deploy the technology at scale when the time is right.

While Brexit – the impending departure of the UK from the European Union – looms, bringing uncertainty into the country’s economy and international relationships, the role energy storage will play in a decentralised, low(er) carbon and more flexible energy system at least seems a little more assured than it did before.