Britain’s Battery Boom ‘Risks Overwhelming the Grid’

The thousands of batteries being deployed to stabilise Britain’s electricity networks could bring down the grid, government experts have warned.

Ministers have been warned of the risk of a crash if operators all try to charge up their batteries at the same time to avoid an energy shortage.

A report by the so-called Panel of Technical Experts handed to Miatta Fahnbulleh, the new Energy Secretary, said: “Some thought needs to be given to the way battery energy storage systems are likely to behave in a capacity market notice situation, as operators may then have an incentive to charge in advance to fulfil their obligations. This may result in a fast descent into a stress event.”

A capacity market notice is a critical warning issued by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) when it spots a looming electricity shortage caused, for example, by low wind...