UK planning approvals for renewables smash records as storage surges

• Britain approved a record 16.1 GW of renewables in Q2 2025, with battery applications doubling year-on-year to 8.4 GW as the grid readies for more PV.

Britain’s energy transition is accelerating on paper—and poised to follow on the ground. In the second quarter, authorities approved a record 16.1 GW of renewable-energy capacity across 323 projects, a near-tripling versus a year earlier. The planning pipeline also shows a decisive turn toward flexibility: more than 100 battery applications totaling 8.4 GW were filed in the quarter, double 2024 levels, as developers prepare to integrate higher shares of solar and wind.

For solar, faster approvals cut a key bottleneck. Utility-scale PV and co-located storage are benefiting from streamlined processes and clearer guidance, while distributed projects ride falling battery prices and improved market revenues. The government’s headline aim—to reach 95% carbon-free electricity by 2030—provides policy ballast, though grid connections remain the long pole in the tent.

Investors are leaning in. Battery projects, often less contentious than wind or large PV farms due to smaller footprints, are seeing stronger economics, with average revenues climbing early this year. For rural councils, co-located designs that minimize new substations and leverage existing rights-of-way are proving easier to permit.

The challenge is sequencing: planning wins must be matched by timely connections and available transformers. National Grid and distribution operators are piloting queue reforms and flexible-connection offers to pull forward projects that can deliver early system benefits.

If approvals translate into shovels in the ground, the UK could see a marked rise in PV-plus-storage build over the next 24 months—smoothing the path to a cleaner, more resilient grid.