Overview of Current Energy Storage Projects in the UK
Despite a 12% year-on-year fall in the capacity of newly submitted planning applications in 2024, there is still a strong interest in the UK energy storage market as a whole. With the UK government actively promoting initiatives to facilitate the rollout of energy storage in the coming years, the outlook for BESS in the UK remains optimistic, presenting numerous opportunities for stakeholders in the market.
Most energy storage projects are currently in the early stages, either announced by developers, listed in the TEC register, or having submitted screening/scoping applications. Inclusion in the TEC register typically indicates an early phase in larger projects and usually precedes planning applications.
The TEC register includes over 156GWh of uncompleted stand-alone battery sites, with an average capacity of 254MWh. While 60% of these projects have target connection dates set beyond 2030, progress appears slow, with new projects being added monthly.
Pipeline Developments in 2024
Last year, over 42GWh was added to the pipeline from screening and scoping submissions, without corresponding full applications. So far in 2025, more than 4GWh has been submitted at this preliminary stage. In terms of full applications, over 1.6GWh of capacity has been submitted in 2025, marking a 10% increase compared to the same period last year.
Approval Trends and Decision Times
In 2024, over 43GWh was approved, representing a 35% increase from 2023. This year has already seen over 8.9GWh of approvals, including one of the largest consented projects in the UK to date. While the volume of submitted capacity last year contributed to the rise in approvals for 2024, decision times appear to be improving, reducing from an average of over nine months for 2023 submissions.
Currently, around 19GWh of projects are under construction, accounting for 17% of approved projects. Despite being early in the year, over 140MWh has already been completed, and more than 17GWh of grid connections are expected in 2025, indicating a promising build-out for this year and into 2026.
Given the rapid growth in the energy storage market in recent years, any signs of a slowdown in new applications or developments should be approached with caution. In the UK, numerous sites exceeding 1GWh in capacity have been approved, with construction already underway on some of these projects, positioning them among the largest BESS initiatives in Europe.
All data and analysis presented in this article are derived from our in-house market research at Informa Markets PLC, and from the UK Pipeline & Completed Assets Database.
