ESA response to the Clean Flexibility Roadmap: July 2026 Update
The Energy Storage Association (ESA) welcomes the publication of the Government, Ofgem and NESO’s Clean Flexibility Roadmap: July 2026 Update, which reinforces the essential role of energy storage in delivering a secure, affordable and decarbonised electricity system. The update provides encouraging evidence of progress over the past year and underlines the growing recognition that flexibility must sit at the heart of the UK’s energy transition.
ESA is particularly pleased to see the continued emphasis placed on both short- and long-duration energy storage as critical enablers of clean power. As renewable generation grows rapidly across Great Britain, storage technologies will be vital in balancing supply and demand, reducing curtailment, strengthening energy security and ensuring consumers benefit from a more efficient electricity system.
The Roadmap update also highlights the significant progress already being made across the storage sector, with grid-scale battery deployment continuing at pace and increasing recognition across government and industry of the value that flexibility brings to the energy system.
ESA welcomes Ofgem’s recent decision under the Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) Cap and Floor scheme, which provisionally supports approximately 7.6GW of storage capacity across 16 projects. The decision sits at the upper end of Ofgem’s previously indicated deployment range, demonstrating strong confidence in the role that long-duration storage will play in delivering a clean, resilient and cost-effective energy system.
While this announcement marks a major milestone for the sector there are areas it could of further in terms of supporting a diverse portfolio of technologies including pumped hydro, advanced batteries, compressed air energy storage and vanadium flow batteries as well as UK investment.
We look forward to working across the entire storage supply chain to maintain the momentum in the Clean Flexibility Roadmap 2030.
15th July 2026