BATTERY BOXES Doing things differently – Clean Power 2030, local energy storage and battery box

Philippa Rees

Philippa is a Senior Development Manager at AMP Clean Energy, having worked in project development there for over two years. She is involved in all aspects of getting low carbon projects to fruition but has primarily been liaising with local authorities and collaborating with them on Battery Box.

“For the past two years, AMP Clean Energy has bucked the trend for ever bigger and bigger energy storage projects by developing micro-sized energy storage projects we call Battery Box.” Philippa outlines the initiative and case studies it with ACES’ member, Suffolk County Council. 

CP30 

Last November, the (now not-so) new government unveiled CP30, or Clean Power 2030. CP30 is the action plan published by the newly created National Energy System Operator (NESO) and contains guidance for achieving the ambitious target of clean power for Great Britain by 2030. 

The good news is that NESO believes it is indeed possible to transition to a net zero power system before the decade is out, but this will only be possible by acting now, acting fast, and ‘doing things differently’. 

As part of the CP30 plan, we need to increase the amount of energy storage in the UK from 5,000 Megawatts (MW) today, to 27,000MW by 2030 – in just 6 years. 

Perhaps a great recent example of why we need energy storage was shown on 22 January when, during a particularly still period, the UK generated just 220MW of wind power. Contrast that to the record set in December, when an incredible 22,523MW was generated on an especially windy day, and we are reminded of the key role energy storage needs to play to balance our electricity networks and provide security in an increasingly renewable energy-based grid. 

In the Spring 2024 Terrier, my colleague Ben Wallace wrote an article about how energy storage works and the different types that can be found in the UK, so I won’t go on about this in any more detail. What is being focussed on here is something a bit different (think of CP30’s need to do things differently!). 

Battery Box 

For the past two years, AMP Clean Energy has bucked the trend for ever bigger and bigger energy storage projects by developing micro-sized energy storage projects we call Battery Box. These are locally connected small-scale batteries, which are only 25 sq m in size. They provide all the benefits of grid-balancing that big batteries can, but by being small they provide another, much needed service to our electricity networks. As they connect at lower voltage, they artificially increase local capacity and therefore reinforce the ‘last mile’ of our electricity network – the cables that supply our homes and businesses. These cables are already straining to keep up with the demand needed to power our electric vehicles and heat pumps – something that is only going to increase in years to come as the electrification of heating and transportation becomes the norm. 

The reason for our interest in ACES is that we are now working with over 60 local authorities across England, Wales and Scotland to host Battery Boxes, with leases already signed with a number of these and many more to come. 

Why do we love working with local authorities? 

Simple: 

• Virtually all councils have now declared climate emergencies, recognising the urgent need to limit the impacts of climate change and have plans to decarbonise fully, some as early as 2030. Each Battery Box installed saves 160 tonnes of carbon per year, close to 5,000 tonnes of CO2 over the project’s lifecycle, which aligns perfectly with local decarbonisation goals 

• The adoption of electrical vehicles (EVs) is all around us. How many people reading this had an EV 5 years ago? Perhaps not many, but by 2035 all new cars in the UK will have to be electric. Along with the growing adoption of heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies, our demand for electricity from our low voltage networks has never been higher. Local authorities can help their residents as each Battery Box helps to reinforce the local network, unlocking capacity and ensuring their areas are ready for this energy shift 

• At a time where many local authorities are looking to diversify income opportunities, each Battery Box hosted also earns the council long term index linked rental income, and this is for small sites that are vacant, unused and undeveloped by the council and otherwise not earning any income for them 

• The type of land councils own is also great for Battery Boxes – think grass verges, edges of car parks, and other small parcels of land that have limited development potential 

• And the best bit? Local authorities have multi-site land holdings, meaning they can host multiple Battery Boxes, scaling up the income, the carbon saved and the local network benefits. 

Battery Box

Battery Box

How does it work? 

Councils are perhaps more resource constrained than ever before with competing priorities and demands on your time. It is therefore vitally important that working with Battery Box is as pain-free as can be, and Battery Box will take on as much of the work as possible. There are 5 steps: 

1. Estate review 

The number of Battery Box projects varies significantly between councils. Some may have just a handful; others may have as many as 40-50 sites. Using Land Registry linked software, the Battery Box team will make an assessment of the council’s estate, considering proximity to existing substations, space, and planning constraints, creating a ‘long list’ of possible projects. This is all completed in-house by Battery Box at no cost or commitment. Our team has already reviewed over 500,000 sites in the past 2 years. 

2. Connection applications 

A Battery Box only works if it can secure an electrical connection to the local electricity network – that’s why all our sites are within 50 metres of an existing secondary substation. But to be sure we can connect; we must make connection applications to the Distribution Network Operator. Battery Box will prepare, submit and pay for the connection applications, with no commitment from the council – all we need from you is a brief Letter of Authority giving us consent to make the applications. 

3. Planning consent 

Once we have received the connection offers, we create a ‘shortlist’ of possible sites. It is at this point that we ask councils to review the sites and deselect any they don’t feel are suitable. Once we have the green light, we then produce full planning applications for the sites in-house and at our cost. 

We now have over 125 planning consents from over 60 different local planning authorities and a success rate of over 80%. 

4. Lease 

The next piece of the puzzle is the lease agreement. Using the Battery Box lease template, the short form agreement has been tailored to cover needs of local authorities, including reinstatement provisions and a decommissioning insurance – which is entirely for the benefit of the council, and would pay out in the unlikely event that Battery Box didn’t clear the site.  Some councils choose to manage this process in-house, others use external solicitors, but for both, Battery Box will contribute towards the legal costs. 

Once a template lease is agreed, it is very easy to replicate this agreement for multiple sites. 

5. Construction 

After the lease is signed and planning permission granted, Battery Box will construct the site, typically within 6-12 months. AMP will also notify the council when work is due to commence, allowing time for the council to prepare for this and ensure all site stakeholders are aware. Construction then takes just 2-3 weeks. 

Case study: Bringing Battery Boxes to Suffolk 

Last year, Battery Box signed a number of leases with Suffolk County Council, for sites across the county. This was the result of a collaborative approach, wherein we worked closely with Hannah Hammond - a member of FACES and recently appointed Deputy Vice Chair of ACES Eastern Branch. Hannah was our key point of contact, who was in turn liaising across different departments of Suffolk County Council. 

Hannah Hammond

"I initially joined the Battery Box project to shadow a meeting and gain additional CPD for my APC. However, I left that meeting as the project lead and began my involvement at stage 3, working through the shortlist of locations across Suffolk County Council's estate. I reviewed all the proposed sites and used colour coding to establish the status of each site: red for those that would not proceed, yellow for those with potential but requiring further investigation, and green for those I was confident could advance to the next step. This approach allowed me to eliminate swiftly sites that were likely to be contentious or complex. 

Before proceeding further with the leases, I instructed Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) to provide formal valuation advice. As Battery Boxes are a new technology with no existing competitors, their expertise provided additional confidence that this project complied with s123 of the Local Government Act 1972 and enabled us to support the project with greater assurance. We also reviewed the lease terms in detail with LSH, and during discussions with Battery Box, we identified the need for further attention to terms around decommissioning and insurance to reduce risk to the council, which were addressed positively by Battery Box. 

We have successfully completed a number of leases; and are now focusing on sites proposed for highway land, which have presented challenges due to legal complications regarding their positioning on the highway. These complexities have given me valuable insight into highways law and experience of the management of stakeholders. Working through this process has been interesting and has contributed to my professional development. I am interested to see how the construction process unfolds and to witness these Battery Boxes in operation, saving carbon. 

For anyone interested in this project themselves, I would be happy for them to reach out to me if they would like to discuss further." – Hannah Hammond, Estates & Commercial Property Surveyor, Suffolk County Council. 

If you’re interested in finding out more about Battery Box and how to host them, please do get in touch with Philippa.