Nothing new here, it has long been the case, not just in the UK, that incumbent utilities use their status, money and influence to slow the advance of decentralised energy systems. Storage in particular has suffered through over the top demands on duration requirements, and now derating too. Much like the automotive industry, these are delaying tactics while they play catch up in new new energy and mobility worlds.
British vertically-integrated utility Scottish Power has come under scrutiny from the demand side response (DSR) sector after proposing to national regulator Ofgem that de-rating factors applied to large scale battery storage should be extended to those used to provide DSR in the Capacity Market. The utility put forward the proposal to Ofgem last month, which included plans for a ‘storage DSR’ technology class which would force DSR providers to identify as part of their bid any battery storage unit within the CMU (capacity market unit) which would be de-rated.
