In this contributed blog, Dan Levy, planning manager at Balance Power, looks at Earth Day and how its environmental aims necessitate well-functioning battery energy storage developments.
This Earth Day, millions of people worldwide will be rallying behind a drive to triple the global generation of clean electricity by 2030. This year’s theme, entitled Our Power, Our Planet, couldn’t be timelier. In an era marked by slow economic growth and rising costs of living, public and political attention is shifting towards solutions that offer not just environmental value, but clear economic returns.
Renewable energy now stands as a compelling answer to both challenges. Governments across the globe are increasingly convinced of its benefits, but turning commitment into action brings complications. Expanding renewable capacity at scale means overcoming major practical challenges such as ageing grid systems, intermittent power generation, and policy bottlenecks.
So, how do we move forward? How can we ensure renewable energy development delivers the best value for the climate and the most “bang” for the public’s buck?
The essential role of BESS
A dramatic increase in global battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity is not an accessory to net zero efforts but a vital component. As more renewable energy enters the grid, technology must be in place to balance and distribute the intermittent power produced by clean sources such as wind and solar.
By storing electricity when there’s more generation than consumption and releasing it back onto the grid when there’s a shortage, BESS projects ensure a consistent, reliable energy supply. They can also reduce electricity costs and improve the system’s overall efficiency by allowing grid operators to shift energy consumption from peak hours to off-peak hours.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global battery storage capacity must increase sixfold by 2030 if the COP28 Climate Change goals, signed by nearly 200 countries, are to be met. Whilst global growth in BESS capacity has outpaced almost all other clean energy technologies in recent years and grew by 1.5GW in the UK in 2024, there is still a need for vast acceleration. The rate of growth in 2024 was 28% lower than the previous year; a far cry from the almost exponential rise in capacity that is required.
Is this achievable?
Whether national and global BESS capacity grows at the required rate will be decided by several factors, including fluctuations in project costs, private and public support, and macro trends in energy use globally. Perhaps most importantly will be how governments engage with BESS development via legislation. The IEA recommends that governments financially incentivise the development of grid-scale energy storage and factoring it into their long-term energy resilience planning.
A regulatory environment that is as friendly to BESS development as possible should be created, and global supply chains of critical minerals need to be diversified and strengthened. The latter point is particularly salient as the rise in other clean energy developments, such as electric vehicles, whilst undoubtedly a positive step, has led to increasing competition and rising prices of key minerals involved in battery production, such as lithium.
Crucially, to achieve the pace of rollout required, a critical mass of governments across the world must share skills, resources and knowledge to meet shared goals. There are also steps that nations can take unilaterally to improve their own domestic energy storage capacity. Upcoming UK legislation, such as the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, aiming to streamline the rollout of clean energy projects, has been welcomed by those in the development industry. Similarly, the recently approved reform of the National Energy System Operator (NESO)’s grid connections queue, allowing for significant clean energy developments to leapfrog stalled “zombie” projects, is another stellar example of the power of legislation in action.
The success of the UK government’s efforts will depend on its continued engagement with renewable developers and on the developers’ ability to capitalise on the opportunities offered to the fullest extent possible.
The impact of BESS on economic growth
Growth in global BESS capacity is aligned with growth in national economies. This is especially true when they are married with solar projects. A recent report from Solar Energy UK predicted that the solar and energy storage sectors are expected to triple their annual contribution to the economy by 2035, adding £5.1 billion to the public finances and employing well over 40,000 people. As the UK struggles to achieve economic growth and the increasing gloom regarding the country’s financial future settles in, broadcasting the positive potential impact of these projects has never been more important.
These economic benefits can be further boosted by co-locating solar and BESS projects on-site with industries that have intensive energy requirements. This approach, known as behind-the-meter generation, allows businesses in industries such as manufacturing, refining, and data to generate and store their own clean energy via tailored on-site facilities. Of course, this will help these organisations meet their carbon goals and stimulate the regional economy through the projects’ development.
Perhaps even more significantly than this, such developments will remove businesses’ reliance on the national grid, shielding them from soaring industrial energy costs, which the UK currently leads in price globally. By reducing these energy costs and protecting against further rises, businesses will free up more operating capital for other investment and business development avenues. As the UK determinedly seeks to boost economic growth, arrangements like this that increase industrial profitability, innovation, and investment can come to form a significant part of a wider national growth strategy.
The path ahead
Recent growth in global and national capacity is encouraging, and legislation in the UK suggests a government committed to accelerating renewable energy development. If its commitments are maintained, and its approach remains reliable, a climate highly attractive to renewable energy investors will continue to emerge. The success of recent and upcoming legislative efforts, if taken full advantage of, will also build trust in the ability of the government to effect real change in the space. Such trust will be vital as renewable energy development policy continues to adapt to an ever-changing political and economic landscape.
As organisations, governments, and the public reflect on this Earth Day’s theme, there is a binding interest that can unite them all in shared action. The development of a cleaner, cheaper, and more resilient energy system benefits everyone. If these benefits can be properly communicated and the resulting support effectively mobilised, there is nothing to stop energy storage taking its rightful place as the lynchpin of the world’s net zero progress. The future of our planet’s power might quite literally depend on it.
