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diciembre 6, 2024

United Kingdom: 20 GW of battery capacity needed by 2025

The United Kingdom plans to integrate 20 GW of battery storage capacity into its energy system by 2025, according to Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Energy. This step is crucial to stabilizing a grid increasingly dominated by renewable energy, amidst challenges in infrastructure and market incentives.
By Lucia Colaluce

By Lucia Colaluce

diciembre 6, 2024
battery

The United Kingdom (UK) faces an ambitious challenge: integrating 20 GW of battery storage capacity into its energy system by 2025. According to Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), this is essential to ensure the stability of a grid increasingly reliant on renewable sources such as wind and solar power. «Decarbonizing our energy system requires technologies that can offer flexibility and efficient storage,» Monks states.

The UK is currently expanding its energy system with 50 GW of wind power, including floating wind technologies, alongside significant growth in solar infrastructure. However, Monks highlights that batteries still operate under a purely commercial framework. «Today, batteries generate revenue through arbitrage, buying energy when it is cheap and selling when there is scarcity, but this doesn’t necessarily align with the grid’s needs,» he explains.

Incentives and market challenges

Monks points out that financial incentives for battery storage are not robust enough. «While estimated demand ranges from 20 to 40 GW, we already have over 250 GW in battery projects queued up, demonstrating strong private sector interest,» Monks remarks. However, current market schemes, such as the capacity market, do not favor battery integration, complicating their adoption as strategic assets rather than merely commercial ones.

To address this issue, the UK is working on reforms that would transition toward systems rewarding storage as a strategic reserve, vital for grid stability amid high variability in generation.

growatt

Green hydrogen and infrastructure challenges

Another key technology in the energy transition is green hydrogen. According to Monks, excess wind energy could be converted into hydrogen during generation peaks. «The hydrogen economy is essential to utilize renewable energy not directly consumed, enabling long-term storage,» the scientist elaborates.

Additionally, transmission infrastructure poses one of the greatest challenges. As the UK shifts its energy production to the north and coastal areas, additional costs arise from insufficient infrastructure. «Reducing these costs is crucial to maximizing the economic benefits of renewables,» Monks emphasizes.

Cost impact and competitiveness

Renewable energy is not only a cornerstone of the energy transition but also a solution to reducing energy costs. Monks notes that wind power generation already offers competitive rates of £42 per megawatt-hour, significantly below the average system rates. «Living costs in Europe have risen due to high energy prices, but renewables offer an opportunity to alleviate this economic pressure,» the advisor states.

Monks highlights that the UK can share critical insights with countries like Argentina, particularly in implementing renewable systems and developing storage infrastructure. «In the UK, we achieved low generation costs but failed to fully capitalize on industrial benefits. That’s a key lesson we can pass on,» he says.

The role of batteries also varies based on geography and energy structure in each country. In Argentina’s case, its vast territorial size could benefit from using batteries to optimize transmission infrastructure, avoiding the need for expensive electricity transport systems. «Batteries allow for more efficient energy management between distant regions, better adapting to geographical characteristics,» Monks explains.

The UK is progressing toward its decarbonization goal by 2030, focusing on energy storage, renewables, and infrastructure. However, as Monks points out, achieving this objective will require overcoming significant challenges in market incentives and technological integration. The UK’s experience in energy storage and renewables serves not only as a model but also as a cautionary tale for developing countries like Argentina seeking to adapt these technologies to their unique contexts.

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