Modo Energy

How much does it actually cost to build a battery energy storage project in Great Britain? Figures for this are difficult to find - tied up in private contracts and agreements, with very little publicly available data. So, we surveyed the industry to figure it out. And the average cost of building a battery energy storage system in Britain is around £580,000/MW. This is based on 30 different projects that are in development (or have recently been completed) - totalling 2.8 GW, and averaging 1.9 hours in duration. What else did we find out? As a battery project increases in size, each additional megawatt is cheaper to build in. In other words, bigger projects are cheaper, on a per-megawatt basis, than smaller projects. And building batteries is getting cheaper - systems coming online in 2028 will pay around half the cost for containerised BESS as systems coming online today. Participants also told us about: - balance of plant costs, - grid connection costs, - operations and maintenance (O&M) costs - and the time taken for projects to progress from construction to commercial operations. Modo’s forecast subscribers can check out the full report now - https://lnkd.in/e9wKWQnA

Batteries saved over 1000 tonnes of carbon emissions in one day this year. On April 15th, wind generation averaged 14 GW across the day. This meant that carbon-emitting plants like CCGTs were only needed during demand peaks and barely generated power outside of these. Batteries traded wholesale energy, importing power during low demand periods and exporting during peaks. By using the zero-carbon power they had imported, they reduced the need for increased CCGT generation during demand peaks. On April 15th, batteries saved more carbon emissions directly from their energy imports and exports than on any other day this year. If you want to read more about batteries saving carbon emissions, you can check out the article on the platform. https://lnkd.in/evebPeCm #BatteryEnergyStorage #NetZero #ClimateChange

Batteries have saved 4.1% of all power sector emissions in 2024. Batteries saved 950,000 tonnes of carbon emissions between January and August 2024, the same as in all of 2023. A large portion of these savings are due to batteries providing fast-acting frequency response. This helps the grid run at lower inertia and means carbon-emitting power plants perform less Mandatory Frequency Response. But battery energy actions also reduce carbon emissions directly, and this has increased in the last two years. Batteries are beginning to trade more wholesale energy, especially in 2024. This means carbon savings from battery energy actions are climbing, as batteries import low-carbon energy, and export it when demand is high. Modo Energy subscribers can read the full article here to find out which batteries have saved the most carbon in 2024. https://lnkd.in/evebPeCm Also, if you want to read about how we calculated these figures, check out the methodology article on the platform. #BatteryEnergyStorage #NetZero #ClimateChange

Keeping the price of battery systems low is crucial for staying competitive and as the demand for energy storage skyrockets, the pressure to reduce costs has never been higher. Material costs are not the only thing influencing prices, breakthroughs in cell chemistry, system efficiency and manufacturing practices all play a role in determining system prices. In this week’s episode, Head of Battery Costs at CRU - Aaron Wade joins Ed Porter to explore the latest in supply chain insights and cost projections, and what this could mean for the future of energy storage. Over the conversation, they discuss: ▶ The impact of material costs on cell pricing, particularly lithium trends. ▶ How cell and system innovation has contributed to lower costs. ▶ Changed in cell chemistry and how LFP has risen to dominance. ▶ Insights into the supply chain and manufacturing globally. ▶ What the future of battery costs might look like. You can listen to this episode - and every previous episode of Transmission - on your favourite podcast app, or via the link in the comments below.

Wholesale price spreads are £90/MWh In winter 2024/25, in V3.2 of the GB BESS forecast. This is a £35/MWh increase from the price spreads seen in winter 2023/24. In winter 2023/24, price spreads in the day-ahead market averaged £55/MWh. This was due to relatively low volatility in the wholesale market. This winter, higher spreads are expected due to the retirement of Great Britain's last coal power plant, increased gas prices, and reliance on wind generation - which can lead to high prices on low wind days and negative prices on high wind days. Great Britain is also expected to be a net importer across winter, due to lower power prices in Europe. This leads to a greater reliance on interconnectors, which could also increase price volatility. To find out more about what the grid is expected to look like over winter 2024/25 and the impact on battery revenues, read the article here -  https://lnkd.in/e3_6ds_K

1.4 GW of battery energy storage connection capacity with an agreement for delivery year 2024/25 in the Capacity Market is yet to begin commercial operation. The new Capacity Market delivery year began at the start of October. As a result, Q3 is often a key milestone for new-build batteries with agreements, as they target reaching operational status before the delivery year starts.  4.3 GW of battery energy storage capacity has contracts starting in the 2024/25 delivery year based on their connection capacity. At the start of Q3, 1.6 GW was yet to begin commercial operation. By the end of Q3, 1.4 GW had not yet begun commercial operation. The capacity left to begin commercial operations equates to 0.3 GW of acquired de-rated capacity. This is 34% of all acquired battery capacity, and 1% of the acquired capacity from all technologies with an agreement starting in delivery year 2024/25. Q4 2023 saw the highest buildout of the year, and the highest buildout in a single quarter ever. Q4 2024 is projected to have the biggest buildout of the year, with many owners targeting operational status as the winter months approach. To find out more about the new batteries beginning operations in Q3 2024, how much capacity is projected to come online in Q4 and to download the pipeline, head over to the article - https://lnkd.in/e5dB2TGu

259 MW of battery capacity became commercially operational in Great Britain in Q3 2024 - the highest of 2024 so far. This brings the total rated power of battery energy storage in Great Britain to 4.3 GW and the total energy capacity to 5.8 GWh. The new Capacity Market year started in October. This made Q3 a significant quarter for battery buildout in Great Britain, as many owners would have targeted the end of September to begin operation. 4.3 GW of batteries have agreements that began in October based on their connection capacity. At the start of Q3, 1.6 GW of this had yet to come online. By the end of Q3, 1.4 GW of capacity still remained to begin commercial operations. To find out more about the sites that did come online in Q3, how much of the pipeline is projected to begin operations in Q4, and to download the pipeline, read the article on the Modo platform - https://lnkd.in/eaiTFt8V

Battery revenues in ERCOT in June 2024 were 85% lower than June 2023, with average earnings of $45/kW (annualized), compared with when batteries earned a massive $309/kW/year in 2023. The summer months have historically provided the bulk of high revenue days for battery energy storage. But that has not been the case in 2024. What factors have contributed to these lower earnings - and what are batteries doing to combat this? In this quick-take episode, Brandt Vermillion, ERCOT Market Lead at Modo Energy joins Quentin to share his insight into what has been driving battery revenues in ERCOT over the summer months. Over the conversation, they discuss: ▶ Recent buildout of storage and solar PV in ERCOT. ▶ The historical significance of the summer months on battery revenues, and why this has changed in 2024. ▶ Insight into the competitive nature of the market and saturation of ancillary services. ▶ Introduction to DART (Day Ahead Real Time) trading as a new strategy for capturing revenue. ▶The emergence of tolling agreements as a response to revenue volatility. You can listen to this episode - and every previous episode of Transmission - on your favourite podcast app, or via the link in the comments below.

Battery energy storage revenues in Britain today are around 60% lower than they were at their peak in early 2022, as frequency response markets have saturated and prices have fallen by 7x. Trading strategies have shifted towards wholesale markets and the Balancing Mechanism - which we forecast will deliver 93% of lifetime revenues for a two-hour battery. In the long term, we project battery revenues to increase to an average of £110k/MW/year—almost half of their 2022 peak but more than double current revenues. But what does this mean for the investment outlook for batteries? At current Capex levels, this exceeds the £74 to £85k/MW/year revenues that we estimate are required to make an acceptable return on investment. We’ve just refreshed our GB BESS Outlook for Q4 2024, including the latest market data from version 3.2 of the forecast. Head to the executive summary to read more: https://lnkd.in/eR-gPEjk

In September 2024, batteries performing Dynamic Containment were among the lowest-earning systems in Great Britain. This is because Dynamic Containment is a low-cycling service, so when prices are low, batteries earn less revenue while performing fewer cycles. In September, low Dynamic Containment clearing prices strengthened the link between cycles and revenue. Batteries that earned over 60% of their revenues from Dynamic Containment earned £30k/MW/year. While batteries that earned under 40% of their revenue from the service earned £42k/MW/year. Capenhurst 4 was the highest-earning one-hour battery, as it swapped Dynamic Containment High for Dynamic Moderation High in September. Modo Energy subscribers can read the full article on battery optimization strategies in September here: https://lnkd.in/eyds8PzD #BatteryEnergyStorage #NetZero