Thursday 17 August 2017

Industry response to Greg Clark’s plans to unlock smart energy


Last week, business and energy secretary Greg Clark revealed the government’s plans to make a £246m investment in battery technology over the next four years. Here, Nick Boughton, sales manager at industrial systems integrator, Boulting Technology responds to the announcement.

The plans, which have been released by the government and Ofgem, will look to give households and businesses more control over their use of electricity and break down barriers preventing new technologies from entering the energy market.

Here at Boulting Group, we welcome the decision to transform the way homes and businesses store and use energy.

The National Grid delivers electricity to millions of people, businesses and communities across the country, however its role is changing. Although the nation has traditionally relied on large fossil fuel and nuclear power stations to supply electricity, many of these larger power stations are now being closed down. As a result, the supply mix has to evolve.

At present, over a quarter of the UK’s electricity is being generated by renewable sources such as wind and solar energy. However, one of the concerns with this method is that production is often at its highest when demand is lowest. This makes storage for energy generated this way a key priority to eliminate waste and harness its true production potential.

Using batteries to store renewable energy is by no means a new concept. However, batteries for this purpose are often big, expensive and have a limited lifespan. In these newly proposed plans, the government has committed to removing barriers to the introduction of new technology into the power network.

Continued advancements in battery power, including decreased costs, are vital for this form of energy storage being rolled out on a mass scale.

Over the coming months, we will be working alongside our clients and partners to explore the potential of battery technology in the industrial sector. Looking only a few years ahead, we envisage efficient battery storage being commonplace across industrial sites, office blocks and homes.

We look forward to seeing how the government and Ofgem’s plans unfold. 

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