NatPower says it will build over £10bn worth of battery storage amounting to around 15-20% of the UK’s needs by 2040.

The UK-based firm, a division of NatPower Group, which is headquartered in Luxembourg, plans to start with three “GigaParks” to be licensed by 2024 and another 10 by 2025. It also said that £600m has been allocated to develop new substations in the electricity grid in preparation for the battery facilities.

It is expected that batteries will play an increasingly big role on the grid as they allow energy produced from renewables to be used at times when they are not generating electricity. They also help to avoid problems of excess electricity production – currently, wind or solar energy producers are sometimes forced to suspend energy production so that the grid is not overloaded.

NatPower proposes adding a capacity of over 60GWh to the grid, which would be linked to solar and wind projects the firm also wants to develop this year. The government’s target is to completely...