We explore the key considerations your business should have in mind when developing your business case for energy storage.
Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are intermittent. The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. That’s why energy storage is so critical: it enables us to manage these fluctuations in supply and demand and ensures the lights stay on when we need them.
Equally, sometimes more green energy is generated than can be used. If we want a sustainable and affordable energy system, we need to be able to store and use green energy later, so it’s not wasted.
As the UK continues to increase its reliance on renewable energy, energy storage assets will play a key role in balancing supply and demand. But we need more of them. The National Grid ESO estimates that the UK will need up to 35GW of electricity storage by 2050.
That’s why we're proud to work with organisations across the UK and Ireland to build new energy storage assets to support their net zero goals. But if you're interested in exploring energy storage for your business, what should you bear in mind?
Energy storage assets can be built on around 2-3 acres of land. In terms of the quality of the land, they should not be built somewhere that’s very productive for arable farming. They should be built on land that’s grade 3 or poorer - in fact, they’re an ideal choice for former industrial sites, or any other areas where there is already hardstanding.
In terms of location, it would be great if the land was near to a substation, but that’s not essential. The most important thing is that the land is near a grid connection with a minimum of 33kV grid connection. There also needs to be spare capacity on that part of the grid. Don’t worry if you’re not sure about the situation with your local grid connection though – we’ll do all the checks to find out if it’s suitable.
One of the biggest concerns that businesses have around energy storage assets is whether there will be a disruption to the local community. It’s true that they lend themselves to being located away from residential areas. But regardless of location, we work hard to reduce their impact.
Air conditioning units are used to prevent batteries from overheating, and these can create some background noise. However, there are local noise regulations that all energy storage assets must adhere to, and we ensure all our sites are fully compliant with these measures. That might mean installing acoustic fencing, shielding, or another method of noise reduction.
Battery storage assets generally come in standardised containers and there’s plenty that we can do to minimise the visual impact - from installing fencing, to locating them near to established hedging. We also look for ways to improve the biodiversity of the land too, in the areas where there isn’t hardstanding.
We can help you work out whether a renewable energy development on your site is likely to be successful. To find out more, please get in touch. We’d be happy to help.
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