UK Home Battery Installations Nearly Doubled Last Year While Wind Curtailment Payments Totaled £379 Million

Home battery installations nearly doubled in the UK last year compared with the 2024 record, with more than 40,000 homes and small businesses adding systems with or without solar panels. @NewScientist reported that Octopus Energy saw installations of home solar and battery systems double from February to March after the Iran war began disrupting energy supplies.

Those installation rates stayed above pre-war levels even after Britain’s energy regulator said it would raise the state cap on energy prices.

Battery storage ranks as the world’s fastest-growing power technology, according to the International Energy Agency. In the US, home battery installations rose 75 percent in 2025. Germany now has more than 2 million home batteries, or one for every six homeowners.

On variable tariffs in Britain, batteries can charge at rates as low as 5 pence per kilowatt-hour in the early afternoon or at night. They can then discharge during the 4-to-7 pm peak when prices reach 40 pence per kilowatt-hour. During the current heatwave, peak prices climbed to nearly 50 pence per kilowatt-hour.

UK homeowners currently pay an average of £9,400 for a battery system. Octopus plans a plug-in model that will cost less than £300, measure the size of a shoebox, and store 2 kilowatt-hours—enough to run a fridge for one to two days. The company expects regulatory approval for consumer use in 2027 and projects a lifespan of at least 12 years.

Last year the UK paid wind farms £379 million to curtail output when the grid could not absorb surplus renewable power. @NewScientist reported that producing a lithium-ion battery emits 150 to 200 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour of capacity.