Originally published on Sustainnovate.
By Henry Lindon
The UK will add 1 gigawatt (GW) of new energy storage capacity by the year 2020, according to IHS forecasts. The primary driver behind this expansion will be the renewable energy industry — in combination with ever-rising consumer electricity prices, an already established network of home solar installers, the launch of a frequency regulation tender, and ever more money being directed towards energy storage research.
At the recent “Energy Storage: The New Market Dynamic” event in London (organized by the Renewable Energy Association), an analyst from IHS by the name of Marianne Boust stated that, while the UK is not currently amongst the top 3 energy storage markets in the world (US, Japan, South Korea), that could well change rapidly — owing to a number of converging factors. As it stands, the 3 aforementioned markets represent around 59% of the total global market.
Boust did note, though, that, due to a lack of clarity on the future of governmental policy, there’s some potential inhibition of growth.
“For small investors, like residential PV owners, we believe it is already worth to add storage because it can lead to significant reduction on the overall electricity bills for the years these systems will be operational,” noted Boust.
She also commented that, while residential and commercial storage systems have gotten the most attention in the UK to date, ancillary services via energy storage systems are expected to rise soon as well. Storage system market growth via frequency control markets is also expected.
Image Credit: Sandia.gov
