UK’s lack of energy storage meant 1.35TWh of renewable energy was lost

The UK wasted 1.35 TWh of renewable energy between October 2022 and January 2023 due to a lack of energy storage, new research has suggested.

That’s according to Stonehaven, an international strategy consultancy, which revealed that during the four-month period National Grid ESO asked for several wind turbines to be switched off to avoid overloading the grid, despite the fact that they would have generated enough electricity to power 1.2 million homes. 

Highview Power, a long-duration energy storage pioneer specialising in cryogenic energy storage, commissioned the report from Stonehaven, noting that the lack of energy storage meant that the UK was wasting a significant amount of cheap renewable energy. 

Rupert Pearce, CEO of Highview Power, noted, “Renewable storage is essential to powering a cleaner, cheaper, always-on Britain.

“By capturing and storing excess renewable energy, which is now the UK’s cheapest, most secure and most abundant form of energy, we can power Britain’s homes and businesses with renewable green energy, taking millions of tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere and ending a culture of reliance on expensive foreign imports.”

Stonehaven has estimated the cost of the wasted electricity, as the consultancy notes that £60 billion of gas had to be imported into the UK to meet periods of high demand, which could have benefited from energy storage. The report’s findings will pile on even more pressure on the UK Government and National Grid ESO to find solutions to the decarbonisation of the energy grid.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee of MPs was recently informed of the issues surrounding energy storage, with long delays in grid connection meaning that the UK is likely to waste even more energy in the future.