The UK Electricity Storage Network (ESN) has called on BEIS and Ofgem to lift restrictions on distribution network operators (DNOs) owning storage assets to facilitate investment in the nascent sector.
Speaking ahead of the trade body’s annual conference in London on 25 January, ESN chairman Anthony Price said DNOs should be able to install and own storage as part of a “sensible, sustainable and efficient network management strategy.”
In the UK, DNO are prohibited from owning storage assets as they would be involved in buying and selling electricity, counter to their distribution license and potentially leaving the market open to undue manipulation.
DNOs are also portrayed as having an unfair advantage because they benefit from low-cost capital and preferential planning rights.
Price said this is a “red herring” because it runs counter to operating their networks at the lowest cost.
“Unless urgent policy action is taken, the dynamism of the UK storage industry will be overtaken by slow-moving events, and UK companies could stand to lose out in the increasingly competitive international battleground for storage.
“I only hope that we don’t live to regret it in 10 or 20 years’ time when we go through the next iteration of market rules,” he added.
Image: Battery storage (AES)
