Ofgem looks to tackle battery projects queue

Ofgem is planning to introduce a new commitment fee to help clear the battery connections queue and free up capacity for viable projects.

The regulator has launched a consultation on its minded-to plans to tackle what it said was an oversupply of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) competing for space on the electricity grid.

It said there was now 90GW of battery capacity currently either operational or in the reformed connections queue, compared with a projected requirement of only around 29GW by 2035.

Ofgem said the scale of the queue makes it difficult to know which projects are genuinely likely to be built.

Under the proposal, projects would need to demonstrate a minimum level of financial commitment, starting at £3,000 per MW and rising to a maximum of £25,000 per MW if the queue remains significantly oversubscribed.

Eleanor Warburton, Director for Energy System Design and Development, said:“Britain has three times more battery capacity in the connections queue than the system is expected to need by 2035, which makes it harder to identify which projects are genuinely going to be built and what network infrastructure is actually required.”