Siobahn Meikle, Managing Director – UK & Ireland at power management company Eaton, commented:
‘The announcement of the Energy Bill is a positive step forward as the Government looks to deliver on some of the promises laid out in the Energy Security Strategy. As the Bill progresses through Parliament, it is crucial that the importance placed on energy storage, outlined in the strategy, continues to be properly acknowledged. Energy security isn’t simply a case of plugging in more UK-based energy sources – it should be about a system-wide approach that makes the best use of all the resources we have. That means making the grid more flexible at the same time as we are diversifying our energy mix and increasing the amount of electricity generated from renewables. Increasing the amount of storage capacity will be critical to this and so the revised target is a step forward, but for this to happen we need a regulatory regime that incentivizes private investment in this vital technology.
“This system-wide approach should include simplified regulations to avoid double charging on energy storage products, as well as creating a market for demand-response flexibility products. In addition to this, we should be doing far more to encourage private investment through greater stability and predictability – in turn improving investor confidence.”
