Renewables company, Anesco, has gained accreditation to supply energy storage batteries to the UK solar farm market.
The decision is the first to come from the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme regarding the storage of solar power.
Anesco currently have three sites which have qualified for the scheme.
Each 5MW site is connected to a 1.1MWh batter, which is able to store energy generated during daylight hours and release the resulting energy during peak night time hours.
Steve Shine, executive chairman of Anesco, said: “This decision is a game changer for the UK’s energy storage market. Ofgem has firmly cemented energy storage as being a vital part of the solution to keeping the country’s ‘lights on’.”
“We have long seen the opportunity that energy storage presents, installing the UK’s first utility scale unit back in 2014. Since then we have been working hard to ensure it’s a commercially-viable proposition and we’re delighted to be first to step up and make it work with ROC sites.
Luke Hargreaves, head of renewables at Ofgem, said: “Battery storage can assist with system balancing and save consumers money by matching supply and demand. It has the potential to play an important role as Britain makes the transition to a low carbon, smarter and more flexible energy system.
“Last month Ofgem published its joint plan with the Government on smart systems and flexibility, covering storage. We plan to publish guidance on the arrangements for storage under the Renewable Obligation and Feed-in Tariff schemes later this year and will be seeking stakeholder feedback.
“The recent decisions demonstrate that, where the necessary criteria are met, co-location of storage facilities at accredited renewable installations is possible under the current legislative framework.”
