There is now 9.8GWh of large-scale BESS online in the UK, according to the latest data from Solar Media Market Research’s Battery Storage: UK Pipeline & Completed Assets Database report.
A total of 175MW/350MWh of grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects came online over the course of June, the report’s data shows.
That brings the total operational grid-scale BESS capacity in the UK to 6,745MW by power rating and 9,796MWh by energy storage capacity.
One of the most high-profile projects to have entered commercial operations was TagEnergy’s 49.9MW/99.8MWh Pitkevy BESS in Scotland, as reported by our colleagues at Solar Power Portal. The project, which uses Tesla’s Megapack 2 XL, brought TagEnergy’s operational UK BESS portfolio to 320MW.
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Taking the first half of 2025 as a whole, the UK has increased its operational grid-scale BESS capacity 14% by power rating and 20% by energy storage capacity. At the turn of 2024/25 there was around 5,922MW/8,175MWh online.
For project approvals, June saw 902MW/1,703MWh of projects receive planning consent, relatively low compared to previous months. May saw over 6GWh consented, April saw nearly 3GWh while March saw over 3GWh.
The latest round of approvals brings the total pipeline of approved projects to 63,243MW/131,834MWh.
Having planning consent could be crucial for projects in the ongoing reshuffle of the grid connection queue. The reshuffle will prioritise projects that have planning consent in place, as well as those that can prove they are needed for the government’s Clean Power 2030 goals.
June did see the highest figure in 2025 yet for projects submitting planning applications: 883MW/2,805MWh of projects submitted their applications. The previous highest was in April, when 925MW/1,849MWh sought the green light. The total capacity of submitted projects now stands at 36,193MW/74,897MWh.
