The Government has launched another new scheme, this time to attract investment opportunities in renewable energy storage technologies.

The new scheme will remove barriers to funding and could see the first significant long duration energy storage (LDES) facilities in nearly four decades releasing stored energy onto the grid and when needed. This includes pumped storage hydro, which stores electricity by pumping water up a reservoir, to be released later.

Great Britain currently has 2.8GW of LDES across four existing pumped storage hydro schemes in Scotland and Wales, and the National Electricity System Operator has estimated that a total of 11.5 to 15.3GW of LDES will be required by 2050 to achieve net-zero.

Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, said: “We are wasting no time in unlocking Britain’s vast renewable potential by expanding wind and solar power. But we also need to increase our ability to store this energy for when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing. We’re reversing a legacy that has seen no new long duration storage built for 40 years and taking steps to unleash private investment in both established and new technologies.”

The announcement follows a consultation held earlier this year which proposed a ‘cap and floor’ scheme to encourage LDES investment. A cap and floor model would provide a guaranteed minimum income for developers, in return for a limit on revenues. Ofgem has agreed to act as regulator and delivery body and the scheme’s first round is expected to be open to applicants next year.

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