David Sheldrake, CRO, POWWR
For more than a decade, solar energy has dominated the UK public sector’s clean‑energy conversation. Supported by early subsidies, falling costs, and rising concern over climate change, rooftop solar panels have become a visible symbol of decarbonisation.
However, a quieter but potentially more game-changing eco technology is now emerging. Battery storage is moving rapidly from a niche add‑on to a standalone energy investment that could reshape how the public sector consumes, stores, and interacts with electricity.
As energy price volatility persists, grid constraints tighten, and desire for greater control over bills and resilience, I see no reason for this trend to show any signs of slowing.
Batteries are uniquely positioned
The UK grid is under mounting pressure. Electricity demand is rapidly increasing as transport and heating goes electric, and a whole host of super-sized data centres to power the transition to artificial intelligence come online. At the same time, the generation mix is becoming increasingly dependent on variable renewables. In fact, over the past year, approximately 40% of the UK’s energy came from renewable sources.
Because of this, pricing models are shifting. While most public sector organisations remain on flat‑rate tariffs, flexible time‑of‑use (ToU) pricing are becoming more popular, buoyed by enhanced smart meter rollout and Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS).
This matters because flexibility – rather than generation alone – is set to become one of the most valuable assets of our energy ecosystem. Batteries are uniquely positioned to monetise that flexibility.
An accelerating trend
A battery storage system allows public sector organisations to buy electricity when it is cheap and use or export it when it is expensive. This price arbitrage is increasingly attractive as peak‑to‑off‑peak spreads widen.
Crucially, batteries do not require solar panels to be economically viable. Battery‑only installations can charge overnight on low‑cost tariffs and discharge during the evening peak. This is a critical distinction from solar, which depends on roof suitability, export conditions, and the sun to shine.
Modern lithium‑ion batteries are accelerating the trend. They are compact, wall‑mounted, and increasingly standardised. Installers report that battery‑only systems can often be deployed faster and with fewer planning constraints than rooftop solar.
Batteries vs solar
Solar remains highly effective where conditions allow, but it faces structural limitations. Less than one in twenty UK buildings currently have solar, and uptake is heavily skewed toward the South of England.
Batteries, by contrast, are viable in shared occupancy offices, shaded buildings, and other areas where solar is impractical. They also align more directly with how UK electricity is priced, rather than how it is generated.
UK adoption of battery systems is accelerating quickly. Monthly MCS‑certified battery installations rose from dozens per month in 2022 to over 1,000 per month in 2024, signalling a shift from early adopters to mass‑market uptake.
Aggregated battery storage through virtual power plants
The system‑level implications of the move to battery storage are significant. Even modest adoption (say 20% of UK public and private sector businesses installing batteries) would represent several gigawatts of highly responsive, distributed capacity.
Through virtual power plants (VPPs), we are seeing citizen batteries already being aggregated to provide grid services such as peak shaving and reserve capacity. Platforms operated by Octopus Energy, SolarEdge, Kraken, and others are all integrating thousands of domestic batteries into flexibility markets.
And not a moment too soon. Recent policy analysis suggests the UK will require 23–27 GW of battery storage by 2030 to maintain stability, with 10–15 GW expected to come from behind‑the‑meter assets.
The importance of brand recognition
Brand recognition is accelerating adoption. Tesla’s Powerwall is helping normalise battery storage as a mainstream technology. This is only set to accelerate. In March Tesla received Ofgem approval to supply electricity directly in Great Britain, signalling deeper integration between batteries, tariffs, and grid services.
This visibility drives education. Not only among end users, but across installers, suppliers, and regulators alike. Lowering friction across the value chain.
A shift in focus
Battery storage is emerging as one of the most important developments in the UK energy market for years. While solar will remain a cornerstone of decarbonisation, the future of the UK grid may ultimately be defined not by how electricity is generated, but by how intelligently it is stored, shifted, and deployed.
As we all start to shift focus from energy generation to energy management, storage becomes the logical focal point. In many cases, solar may evolve into an optional add‑on to a battery‑first strategy, rather than the other way round.
This article appeared in the May 2026 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.
