The Energy Storage Association (UK) launched on 7 July 2025, with Baroness Luciana Berger named as its inaugural Chair. In a statement published the same day, she said the organisation was "formed with one simple but urgent mission: to ensure that energy storage takes its rightful place at the heart of the UK's net-zero transition"1.
The association's founding members include GivEnergy, Octopus Energy, Powervault and Sunsynk, along with academic partners Durham and Keele Universities1. Berger wrote that the ESA intends to cover "the full range of storage technologies: electrical, thermal, hydro, and hydrogen-based"1. She said the organisation would work with DESNZ, NESO, Ofgem and GB Energy, among others, to align industry and policy, and would push to remove what she described as outdated barriers such as restrictive grid rules and inadequate market signals1.
"It is an honour to serve as the inaugural Chair of this newly established organisation"
The launch statement argues that renewable generation has grown faster than the infrastructure needed to store it, and that surplus electricity from wind and solar is being wasted as a result1. Berger pointed to the recent Future Homes Standard consultation as an example of storage being overlooked in policy, noting that rooftop solar and heat pumps were addressed but storage was not mentioned1. She also said storage, deployed at scale, can reduce peak demand, cut grid costs and lower energy bills, and can play a role in bringing down energy costs for households and businesses1.
Why it matters for households
The association's stated case is that storage sits between generation and consumption in the home: a battery or thermal store holds cheap or self-generated electricity for later use, which affects how much a household imports at peak times and how exposed it is to peak prices1. Berger framed the absence of storage from the Future Homes Standard consultation as a gap that leaves smart homes and decarbonised heating systems without the means to shift energy1. She also linked poor installation quality to consumer harm and damage to public trust, and said the ESA wants quality training pathways and industry-wide competency frameworks1. The group says it will press for standards covering cybersecurity and interoperability as energy systems become more decentralised and digital1. The regulation and policy framework for storage is one of the areas the association says it will address.
What happens next
The ESA says it will publish its first Roadmap for Energy Storage in the UK in the months ahead1. The statement lists what it will cover: recommendations on planning, permitting and grid access; funding and investment priorities; calls for cybersecurity and interoperability standards; workforce development proposals; and a case for storage as a driver of economic growth, energy security and decarbonisation1. No publication date for the roadmap has been reported1.