Battery storage has been hitting the headlines. The government recently announced a £246m investment in battery technology over a four-year period. This is good news for South West and the renewable energy sector.
Lithium is a key component in the manufacture of batteries. Cornish Lithium has secured the right to explore for lithium in Cornwall, so the county could be well positioned to become a leader in the development of battery technology and manufacture if these elements come together.
What’s happening?
- Storage becomes a sub-set of generation under the Electricity Act.
- Creation of the Battery Institute.
- A £45m challenge to make batteries more accessible and affordable.
- A modified generation licence for storage will be introduced by Summer 2018.
- Planning rules reviewed to assist deployment of larger scale storage projects.
- Abolishment of Final Consumption environmental levies.
- Ofgem’s vision is that storage should not be charged residual charges at transmission and distribution level.
- Government to assess the regulatory, network and tariff implications of increased use of electric vehicles and support trials of vehicle-to-grid charging.
- Ofgem to announce rules to govern this new energy system.
The UK’s advances in battery storage technology and the development of a flexible energy system will allow developers to maximise the opportunity to produce energy, even in grid constrained areas.
Renewable energy sometimes comes under fire for being ‘intermittent’, ‘unreliable’ or even ‘inefficient’. But the main problem facing renewables is the lack of resources to store it on a large scale, when not being generated – battery storage could be the answer.
Stephens Scown LLP’s corporate team in Truro, he can be contacted on 01872 265100 or by email to corporate.cornwall@stephens-scown.co.uk.
Stephens Scown has a specialist energy team headed up by Sonya Bedford, who can be contacted on 01392 210700 or email energy@stephens-scown.co.uk
This article first appeared in Business Cornwall, September 2017 issue