As a first for central London, streetlights connected to UK Power Networks electricity network in Kensington and Chelsea have been converted into charge points for electric vehicles. The trial by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, UK Power Networks and Ubitricity started with the conversion of the first three Kensington street lights into Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points.

Playing a major role in the transition towards a low-carbon economy, a trial of the largest grid-scale battery in Britain has proven it can potentially transform the energy grid. The ‘big battery’, designed and run by UK Power Networks and based in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, stores energy when demand is low and releases it at peak times.

Amber Rudd MP, Department of Energy and Climate Change, has welcomed the start of trials at the largest electricity storage facility of its type in Europe. After extensive testing of the giant battery, known as the Smarter Network Storage facility in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, it will now be trialled for two years by UK Power Networks, which distributes electricity in South East England.