UK community battery call for evidence finds just 12 shared battery projects toward a 10 to 12 gigawatt target for 2030

What the UK community battery call for evidence asked

The United Kingdom Department for Energy Security and Net Zero opened a call for evidence on community batteries on 4 June 2026 and closed it on 30 July 2026. A community battery is a shared battery, often about the size of a garden shed, that stores electricity for several homes at once rather than for 1 household own battery, so a person who rents or lives in a flat and cannot fit solar panels or a battery of their own can still get the benefit. The department asked network companies, battery makers, energy suppliers, councils, social housing landlords and community groups whether and how the country should expand community batteries, drawing on its own 31 page document, which asks 34 numbered questions on definitions, barriers, safety and examples from other countries.

The government own document states the country has identified only 12 planned or operational shared community battery projects so far. That falls against its own ambition, set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, for 10 to 12 gigawatts of what it calls consumer led flexibility capacity by 2030, meaning electricity capacity that homes and small devices, rather than power stations, can turn on or off to help balance the grid. The government states plainly that 12 projects will not get the country there, up from 2.5 gigawatts of that flexibility capacity operating in 2024.

Three ways a community battery could be wired, in the government own words

Reading the full call for evidence document directly, rather than only coverage of it, shows the government has not settled on 1 design for a community battery. It sets out 3 categories for people to react to. A shared behind the meter battery wires directly into each flat own circuitry inside a block, giving a direct bill saving with no need to switch energy supplier. A microgrid battery sits behind a landlord single meter and ahead of individual household meters, serving a whole development, and residents have to use a specified supplier to see the saving. A virtual private network battery connects to the wider electricity network in front of residents own meters, working like a small version of a grid scale battery while sending its earnings back to residents, and it also requires residents to switch to a common supplier.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks tied the plan to household bills and to reaching renters and flat dwellers who cannot install their own equipment.

If households are going to feel the full benefit of clean power, we need a more flexible energy system - and community batteries can help deliver it.

Michael Shanks, Energy Minister, United Kingdom Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Source 2.

A domestic case study, and how the government sizes up others

The government points to Hazelmead, a 54 home development in Bridport, Dorset, which reports an annual electricity cost reduction equivalent to 1,300 pounds a home and carries a 15% bill saving guarantee. Its own document also cites community battery case studies of very different sizes, in Germany, the Netherlands, Western Australia and a project in Brixton, showing how much the number of homes 1 project can serve varies.

Allume Energy, an Australian company that already runs shared battery systems for apartment blocks, gave evidence to the government through its general manager for Europe.

Through our technology, residents have seen their grid energy costs cut by up to 40%.

Jack Taylor, General manager Europe, Allume Energy. Source 2.

What happens next

As of this research the call for evidence has closed with no government response published and no date given for one. This is evidence gathering that could lead to a future policy, not a scheme any renter or flat dweller can join today.