23-27GW Battery Storage Capacity by 2030

Commitment: Deploy 23-27 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage capacity by 2030, enabling the electricity system to balance the variability of renewable generation.

Owner: DESNZ / NESO

Target date: 2030

Metric: Installed battery storage capacity (GW) connected to the grid.

Status: active

Why battery storage is critical

A 95% clean electricity system built primarily on wind and solar faces a fundamental variability challenge: generation depends on weather, but demand is constant. Battery storage (principally grid-scale lithium-ion batteries) addresses this by:

• Storing excess generation during high-output periods
• Releasing stored energy during low generation or high demand periods
• Providing fast-response frequency regulation (replacing some functions of gas peakers)

Without adequate battery storage, the Clean Power 2030 system would require more gas backup — undermining the 95% target.

Current deployment trajectory

Battery storage deployment in Great Britain has been growing rapidly — driven by robust private investment attracted by grid services revenues (balancing mechanism, capacity market). The 23-27GW target by 2030 is considered achievable if the regulatory and grid connection environment supports it.

Key constraint: grid connection queue

Battery storage projects face the same grid connection queue bottleneck as wind and solar. NESO’s queue reform (post-PIA 2025) is critical for battery storage as well as generation. See neso.

Technology note

The 23-27GW target covers primarily short-duration battery storage (4-hour discharge). Longer-duration storage (8+ hours) and other flexibility technologies (pumped hydro, compressed air) are tracked separately but are also needed for a fully firm clean power system.