Energy Storage - An Energy Data Centre Introductory Guide

Abstract:

This guide introduces the principles and evolving role of energy storage in the UK's transition to low-carbon energy systems. It outlines the shift away from fossil fuels - where storage was embedded in fuels like coal and gas - toward variable renewable energy sources, which require more dynamic and diverse forms of flexibility. Energy storage emerges as a critical enabler of system stability, helping to balance supply and demand across short, medium, and long timescales. The document highlights governmental strategies from national to local levels, with the UK Government leading investment in long-duration storage and technologies like carbon capture, while devolved administrations focus on regional solutions such as pumped hydro and hydrogen systems. It categorises storage technologies by discharge duration, ranging from supercapacitors and batteries to thermal storage, compressed air, flow batteries, and inter-seasonal hydrogen storage. Research and innovation efforts span technical, economic, and whole-system domains, emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary approaches to optimize energy storage deployment and policy alignment. Overall, the guide positions energy storage as a cornerstone of net zero strategy - enhancing resilience, enabling flexibility, and supporting equitable, decentralised participation in the future energy system.

Publication Year:

2025

Publisher:

UKERC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5286/UKERC.EDC.000989

Author(s):

Colechin, K. and Colechin, M.