UK’s energy storage market could have ‘best scale-up’ potential

September 26, 2017
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Inside the UK’s first large-scale battery demonstration in Leighton Buzzard. Image: UK Power Networks.

Britain could be the best “scale-up” market in the world when it comes to deploying energy storage batteries, leaning on years of experience in solar PV, the chief of one manufacturer has said.

Simon Daniel, an inventor and entrepreneur, is CEO of Moixa, which makes residential and small-scale energy storage systems. The company was one of the earliest in the UK to develop an offering based around providing services to the grid while also allowing homeowners to store and self-consume solar energy.

The company has deployed over 1,000 systems in the UK to date, with Daniel often making analogies about the simplicity of the installation process to that of home cable TV installations, while Moixa’s battery systems, tailored for the UK market, tend to be smaller sized and less aimed at high income individuals than rival systems.

“…While it is not the best early adopter for [energy] storage, it is probably the best scale-up market in the world because of the way organised, multi-thousand projects for solar were funded and deployed historically,” Daniel said.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

“There are probably around 50,000-plus batteries deployed in Europe today, but we see pipelines in the UK that could exceed that and it’s just a question of the economics and the process.”

Simon Daniel was speaking to Solar Media journalist David Pratt, who has written an article; “UK storage charges ahead”, for the Storage & Smart Power section of the latest edition of Solar Media’s downstream solar industry technical journal, PV Tech Power.

The article looks at the residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) and utility-scale energy storage industries in Britain and the reasons behind the likes of Enel citing the country as having “one of the most advanced markets in the world”.

From tenders for grid services like EFR (enhanced frequency response) and the capacity market coming from transmission network operator National Grid driving activity in the large-scale market, to an “overlooked” C&I space, to the aforementioned potential for scale-up at household level, the feature article looks at the diverse drivers and considerable excitement behind energy storage in the UK.

Also included is a dive into Solar Media’s market intelligence division’s report on the UK’s utility-scale energy storage pipeline from analyst Lauren Cook, which is now up to 3.5GW, the research team found.

You can download “UK storage charges ahead” by David Pratt and Lauren Cook here.

You can download the entire issue of PV Tech Power Vol. 12, including the dedicated Storage & Smart Power section, presented by Energy-Storage.News, here.

6 October 2026
Warsaw, Poland
The Energy Storage Summit Central Eastern Europe is set to return in September 2025 for its third edition, focusing on regional markets and the unique opportunities they present. This event will bring together key stakeholders from across the region to explore the latest trends in energy storage, with a focus on the increasing integration of energy storage into regional grids, evolving government policies, and the growing need for energy security.

Read Next

December 24, 2025
In this Energy-Storage.news roundup,  Hydrostor receives permitting approval for its California project, Hawaiian Electric is set to begin construction on a Maui battery energy storage system (BESS) and Peregrine and Wärtsilä advance construction of a Texas BESS.
December 23, 2025
The New Orleans, Louisiana, US City Council voted unanimously to approve a US$28 million virtual power plant (VPP) programme, reportedly, the first distributed energy resource (DER) programme in the city.
Premium
December 23, 2025
Energy-Storage.news Premium speaks with CEO of optimisation platform provider Ascend Analytics, Dr. Gary Dorris, PhD, about navigating ERCOT’s revenue opportunities and the implementation of RTC+B.
December 23, 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, here’s a look back at a selection of Guest Blog contributions published by Energy-Storage.news over the past 12 months.
December 19, 2025
The results of Poland’s capacity market (CM) were announced this week, with fewer awards to BESS than last year because of a reduction in the technology’s de-rating factor.