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The intermittency of renewables puts pressure on the National Grid network to match energy supply and demand in real-time. Cost-effective battery-storage plants have emerged as a solution to address the challenge of this renewable intermittency. GRID-SCALE BATTERY STORAGE Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc has raised c.£165m to invest in battery storage infrastructure, which is crucial to addressing the supply and demand imbalances caused by our increasing reliance on renewable energy. Read more at newenergy.greshamhouse.com 2021 Renewable electricity generation will meet 50% of the UK’s total electricity demand by 2021. (BEIS data, 2019) £162 M National Grid paid £162m in ‘constraint’ payments to wind farms in the twelve months to April 2019, ultimately a bill picked up by the consumer. (National Grid ESO data, March 2019) RESPONSIVE BATTERIES Grid-scale energy storage systems are ultra-responsive batteries that store energy at times of oversupply and release it back to the grid when there is increased demand. INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY Returns from battery storage can be generated from multiple revenue streams, are not correlated to the absolute level of wholesale power prices and not dependent on any subsidies. Returns also benefit from significant asset backing, good cashflow and a chance to be part of an ongoing revolution… 15 GW There are currently c.500-600 megawatts of batteries installed on the UK grid and there will be a need for up to 15 gigawatts in 4-5 years’ time to absorb excess capacity. (Statista, 2019) WHAT’S DRIVING INVESTOR INTEREST?
