Energy Storage: 2020 Update

The energy sector has undergone major change in the last decade due to the growth of the renewables market. Energy storage technology is touted as a solution to many of the issues facing the energy market as we continue to move towards a system based on more decentralised and intermittent generation where the generation and demand profiles embedded within the electricity grid become ever more complex and unpredictable.

We are beginning to see material changes to the regulatory treatment of storage, illustrated by proposals published by BEIS on 14 July 2020 to remove storage from the NSIP regime for planning purposes. Concrete steps to clarify the regulatory framework are helpful and complement the developing energy storage market in the UK, where we are beginning to see considerable investment and deployment of the technology. Bird & Bird has recently advised on Europe’s largest battery storage project, and we expect the market to continue to blossom in the coming years as the investment and regulatory landscape becomes ever more clear.

In these uncertain times the way we generate and use energy is changing: energy storage has the potential to play a key role in the way we manage the challenges this presents. This paper provides a brief update on some of the ongoing regulatory and revenue stream developments relating to energy storage in the UK market.

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