Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has made of the potential merits of the use of heat batteries to absorb surplus renewable generation that may otherwise be wasted.

In July 2021, the Government published analysis as part of our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, which concluded that by managing the UK’s energy more flexibly, the UK could reduce the investment required in the electricity network and in new electricity generation capacity. In particular, the flexible use of heat – using technologies like heat batteries – could make an important contribution to this objective.