This study examines the potential for the deployment of electricity storage technologies and demand management measures in the Tees Valley.
As the UK transitions further towards a low carbon future, the energy system will need to change. New, flexible technologies are needed that can control, absorb and release energy to balance and manage constraints on the national transmission grid and distribution networks.
The Tees Valley is home to one the largest process industry clusters in the UK. The region has integrated heat and power infrastructure, along with a strong mix of conventional and renewable generation helps make the region ideally suited to host new investments in demand management and energy storage solutions.
The report, prepared with input from Progressive Energy, finds that there are a number of challenges, especially around:
- the UK’s complex and changing policy framework; and
- limitations on the ability of potential actors such as Distribution Network Operators and the National Grid to invest in storage.
However, it identifies a number of opportunities for deployment of new storage assets in both the long and short-term, and recommends that Tees Valley Combined Authority and Tees Valley Unlimited work closely together to help move these opportunities further down the development path.
Such initial projects and studies could provide the catalyst for a range of additional development, bringing significant employment and wider economic benefits to the Tees Valley area in the future.
