Food
Batteries: The Real Power Shift
The Financial Times dropped a bombshell: in the last three months alone, over 16 gigawatts of large-scale battery storage received planning permission in the UK. To put that into perspective, the government reckons we’ll need 23–27 gigawatts to hit 95% clean energy by 2030. In one quarter, we’ve approved half that target. Forget the naysayers and climate deniers - the green economy is being built right in front of us.
"But what do you do when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow?" That tired old line is finished. Batteries soak up excess renewable power and release it when we need it. With wind and solar scaling at record speed, there’s plenty of clean, homegrown energy to keep them charged.
And batteries aren’t the only trick up our sleeve. Just look at Wales’ Dinorwig "electric mountain", a giant pumped-storage plant that can power two million homes if the grid stumbles. We need a range of storage options, but batteries have one big advantage: they’re quick to build, easy to slot next to demand centres, and are getting cheaper by the day.
How cheap? Their costs have fallen by more than 90% in the past decade. Why? One word: China. By throwing billions at battery research and factories, they’ve dragged down costs for the whole world. Today’s lithium-ion systems use fewer rare metals, can be recycled more easily, and fly through planning.
That’s why the UK’s largest battery storage site went from financing to fully operational in under two years. It can power 680,000 homes and it sits next to one of the oil refineries Just Stop Oil blocked back in 2022. Three years later, a giant clean-energy battery is pushing oil into the history books. Compare that to nuclear, where projects like Sizewell C will be decades late and billions over budget.
However, more than fighting the climate crisis or achieving energy independence, struggling households will care about whether a green grid produces cheaper bills. A green grid should mean cheaper power. Right now, whenever demand spikes, we lean on gas power stations to fill the gap. Gas is the most expensive energy out there and because it’s used as a last resort, operators hold the grid hostage, charging eye-watering rates. Batteries end that racket.
Here’s the kicker though: our electricity prices are still tied to the cost of gas. Even if 99% of our power comes from wind and solar, as long as 1% comes from gas, the whole lot gets priced at gas rates. It’s madness. It undermines the renewable revolution and gives the far-right ammunition for their culture war on energy bills and net zero.
Some think the answer is to nationalise gas power stations. But we don’t need gas at all. We don’t need nuclear. And we certainly don't need the far-right's culture war. What we do need is the political courage to pass on the benefits of clean tech to people’s wallets.
Batteries are here, they’re scaling up faster than anyone thought, and they’re making 100% renewable energy not just possible, but inevitable.
The future’s here. And it runs on batteries…:)
