There has been widespread criticism that the UK government is not investing enough to achieve a green transition in line with its climate commitments. It continues to support oil and gas projects in the North Sea and has gone back and forth with several renewable energy and nuclear power projects. However, potential new investment in the battery energy storage sector by NatPower UK could significantly increase the country's storage over the coming decades, thereby strengthening the renewable energy sector.
This month, renewable energy developers announced they would invest about $12.8 billion in large-scale battery storage projects. British start-up NatPower plans to submit planning proposals for three “gigaparks” across the UK and hopes to add a further 10 by 2025. The UK, like many other countries, has been slow to invest in battery storage. This means we continue to rely heavily on other, more polluting forms of energy sources that are considered more reliable.
Countries around the world are beginning to invest in battery storage to improve the reliability of their renewable energy sector. Currently, much of the world's renewable energy is fed into the grid only when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, making it unstable. Green energy projects such as solar power often do not provide energy during peak evening hours. Adding batteries to renewable energy projects allows energy produced during periods of low demand to be stored and released during peak or non-productive times.
The NatPower investment is expected to contribute to the development of 60 gigawatt hours of battery storage. Two of the new Gigaparks, one in the north of England and one in the west, will be built on industrial land through leases with farmers. The company is financing its project pipeline through private companies and pension funds, with further investment news expected in the coming weeks.
The company also plans to invest approximately $768 million in electrical substations. Stefano Somadossi, CEO of NatPower UK, said: “To solve the bottlenecks that are slowing the transition to clean energy, we are driving investment into the grid itself and working with grid operators. “We intend to supply more than 20% of the new substations needed.” ■ Investing in substations and focusing first on energy storage can enable the next stage of the energy transition and lower energy costs for consumers. ”
The potential investment is expected to improve the UK's pipeline of renewable energy projects, which has been criticized for lagging behind other Western countries such as the US and EU. The UK has hit several hurdles in developing its green energy industry over the past year. In September, the government failed to secure a single bid in an offshore wind auction. The government hopes to remedy this problem by investing nearly $1.3 billion to support new wind power projects in the next auction. There has also been criticism of the wait times for renewable energy projects to connect to the grid, with many renewable energy companies saying it could take 10 to 15 years at the current pace. The problem is expected to be partially resolved through his $52 billion infrastructure overhaul by National Grid.
The pipeline of energy storage projects, including projects in operation, under construction, consented or planned, has increased by more than two-thirds in terms of capacity from 2022, according to a report published by RenewableUK in December. . The project pipeline increased from 50.3 GW in December 2022 to 84.8 GW in 2023, marking an increase of 68.6 percent.
Barnaby Wharton, Director of Future Power Systems at RenewableUK, said: “It's great to see that our battery storage pipeline has grown by more than two-thirds compared to last year. “This shows that there is a strong appetite from investors to get involved.” This puts it on track to provide the 30GW of flexibility the government needs by 2030 to ensure electricity supply always meets demand. Connecting viable projects to the grid is a priority and industry has welcomed progress in institutional reform. connection process. He added: “While the battery market is booming, investment in even larger projects is needed to store energy for longer and open further opportunities to scale up this cutting-edge technology.'' “We are still waiting to see how the government will supply batteries,” he added. Stable income from long-term projects. ”
Expanding the UK's battery storage capacity will support the green transition and help the government meet its climate commitments by ensuring the grid has a steady flow of power from renewable energy projects. It will also help the UK eventually shift its reliance from fossil fuels to greener alternatives.
Written by Felicity Bradstock, Oilprice.com
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