However, according to Field’s analysis, the cost of curtailment to billpayers could be trimmed by approximately 80% if existing technologies like battery storage are used more effectively on the current grid.

Increasing the number of intertrip services the National Energy System Operator can buy and using grid booster batteries would both help tackle the problem. The latter technology is already being deployed in continental Europe and Australia. 

Field said that the B6 boundary, a pinch point between the Scottish and English borders, caused most curtailment costs across the year. The B6 boundary was explored in a previous blog post on Current±, in which Matthew Boulton, director of solar, storage, and private wire at EDF Renewables UK, similarly argued that battery storage could help mitigate curtailment costs.

See the full original version of this article on our sister site Current.