There’s a particular kind of evening that stays with you. Not because of one big reveal, but because of the accumulation of small, sharp observations that add up to something bigger. Last week’s Women in Energy Storage event was one of those evenings.
Because here’s the truth that came through, again and again, from the women building this sector: battery storage doesn’t have a technology problem. It has a communications problem.
An asset still looking for its own identity
Ask someone to define battery storage and you’ll get a different answer depending on who’s writing the cheque. To some, it’s still filed neatly under “renewables” where it is bundled into targets alongside wind and solar. To others, it’s edging closer to infrastructure: long-lived and dependable, more like a toll road than a turbine. Nobody in the room disagreed that BESS is both, and neither – and that this in-between status is precisely why it’s still seen as riskier than other renewable assets, even as the technology itself has matured well beyond that reputation.
That’s not a technical failing. It’s a storytelling gap. And it’s costing the sector confidence, capital, and speed.
A market growing more complex than the words we have for it
Five years ago, a developer looked at one market, doing one job. Today, batteries are being asked to do far more. They’re working across multiple markets at once, in ways that are genuinely hard to explain simply. Today, the conversation is “stacked squared” – multiple revenue stacks, across multiple jurisdictions, layered with a growing menu of contractual structures and a fast-expanding cast of new players. It’s a genuinely exciting evolution.
And not every market is at the same stage of that journey. GB and Germany have found their footing as mature markets. Sweden is still finding its feet. Poland is quietly one of the most interesting stories in Europe where a wave of new solar has, for now, made batteries slightly less lucrative, but that same solar boom is quietly writing the case for the balancing power the grid will need in a few years’ time. Italy, with fewer ways for storage to earn its keep, remains a harder market to build a business case for. Each of these is a different story, shaped by how much renewable power a country already has and how fast that’s growing. And as such each deserves telling on its own terms, not folded into one flattened narrative about “storage markets.”
Grid delays: the shared frustration nobody’s solved yet
If there was one moment of collective, knowing laughter in the room, it was at the mention of grid connection delays. Every developer has a story. There’s cautious hope that the next wave of grid connection offers will land early next year, but nobody expects the underlying backlog to clear quickly. It’s part of why “colocation” (putting batteries alongside solar or wind on the same site) has quietly become the default rather than the exception, since it makes the most of limited grid capacity.
Spain is moving faster on giving developers clarity about their grid connections, even though its market doesn’t yet offer batteries as many ways to earn revenue as some would like. The UK, by contrast, has more red tape around building colocated projects, and arguably not enough incentive to encourage them. Despite the fact that pairing storage with solar reduces the amount of new grid infrastructure needed overall, which ultimately means lower costs for consumers. That’s a policy story and a communications opportunity, hiding in plain sight.
A settled technology, an unsettled story
Technology, at least, offers a moment of calm: lithium-ion remains the clear winner, dominant even in long-duration storage projects, while alternative battery chemistries still lag some way behind. But a settled technology doesn’t make for a settled story. If anything, it raises the stakes. That’s because there’s no longer a “wait and see” excuse. The tools exist. The market is ready. What’s missing is a narrative confident enough to match it.
This is where we come in
At TEAM LEWIS, we believe the energy transition won’t be won on technology alone. It’ll be won by the organisations brave enough to communicate their complexity clearly, consistently, and with genuine conviction. Battery storage is one of the most important, least understood assets in the energy mix, and the businesses that get ahead of that story with all stakeholders will be the ones that shape the market, not just respond to it.
If you’re building in this space and you’re ready to turn complexity into clarity, let’s talk. Get in touch with the TEAM LEWIS energy and sustainability team to find out how we can help you tell a story as sophisticated as the technology you’re already deploying.
