Recent studies find that the use of batteries to store access energy produced from wind and solar power could provide a significant saving for consumers and build investment interest in a new market.

The National Grid system operator ESO has highlighted the potential benefits of batteries when used for balancing the grid in a new ‘Reserve from Storage’ study.

The study was conducted after Arenko proposed a battery storage solution to add resilience to the balancing of the grid during the demand drop. This proposal was in response to ESO’s letter to industry participants requesting to engage and find solutions to have more flexibility during dramatic demand changes such as the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly reduced demand when businesses closed for lockdown.

With the help from Arenko, Habitat and Flexitricity they carried out trails for Battery Asset technology in the Balancing Mechanism, a tool used to balance supply and demand in close to real-time so that energy is produced at the time of demand. The Balancing Mechanism is in place as there is no current solution to store energy ready for demand on a scale.

During the 3 weeks long trail, accounting for operational and market conditions, it was found that there could be a £0.7 million saving for the end consumer when compared to alternative solutions in the Balancing Mechanism. Recognising the value of this potential, ESO wants to fully engage with the industry to help extract these benefits for the end consumers and consider the next steps to progress.

Rupert Newland, Arenko Chief Executive, said in response to the study results:

“It provides irrefutable evidence that new battery technologies, operated using intelligent software, can transform the management of the electricity grid to enable the mass deployment of renewable energy, a zero-carbon electricity system and the realisation of huge savings for the consumer”

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