If you are on a half-hourly meter, part of your bill is fixed to the peak demand your site draws, the agreed supply capacity, or kVA. Breach it and you face excess-capacity penalties; sit well below it and you are paying for headroom you never use. Either way the charge is volatile and hard to forecast.
How half-hourly demand-charge reduction saves a business money
A battery caps the measured peak by discharging into your demand spikes, which lets us renegotiate a lower agreed capacity with your supplier and hold it there. Because the charge reads directly from your existing half-hourly data, the saving is measured rather than estimated, we can show it to you before you spend anything.
The value stack is deliberately built on savings you control, red-band DUoS avoidance, demand-charge reduction, and, where solar is present, lifted self-consumption instead of export at a low Smart Export Guarantee rate. Any frequency-response or Balancing Mechanism income is treated as upside, never the foundation. We model it all from your data and hand over the full spreadsheet.
What this looks like on your site
- Targets the availability and capacity charges half-hourly-metered businesses pay on their agreed supply capacity (kVA)
- Caps the site's measured peak so you can renegotiate agreed capacity downward
- Turns a volatile, hard-to-forecast charge into a controlled one
- Reads directly from your existing HH data so the saving is measured, not estimated
Who it suits
Best for half-hourly-metered sites with sharp, short peaks, morning start-up surges, process spikes, or shift-change draws, where the peak sets a charge out of proportion to actual energy use.
Typical half-hourly demand-charge reduction system
| Power / capacity | 100 kW / 200 kWh - 750 kW / 1,500 kWh |
| Project value | £110,000-£950,000 |
| Payback | 6.5 years |
| Annual CO₂ saved | varies tonnes |
| Capital allowances | 100% AIA to £1m, then 50% FYA |
Indicative. Your figure is modelled from twelve months of half-hourly meter data. See cost and payback by size.
Compliance and safety
G99 for the storage asset. Coordination with your supplier and broker on agreed capacity (kVA) and availability charges. Metering already HH on qualifying sites. BS 7671 electrical installation.
Every system is designed to PAS 63100:2024 fire-safety principles with lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells, BS EN 62619 cell safety, and BS EN/IEC 62933 system safety, with your insurer engaged up front.
No obligation, no phone hard-sell
Every number is built from your half-hourly data and handed over so your finance team can pull it apart. Installation is by MCS-certified, NICEIC-registered engineers, with a 10-year insurance-backed workmanship warranty and a fixed price agreed in writing. And if a battery will not pay on your profile, we say so rather than sell you one.
Common objection we hear: battery payback is always ten years. It is not, for the right profile it is six to eight, and we prove it from your own data or walk away. See the battery storage myths we debunk, or read whether commercial battery storage is worth it.
Get a free half-hourly demand-charge reduction feasibility
Responds within one working day
- 1. Free desk feasibility from your meter data and roof, no obligation.
- 2. Site survey and a fixed-price proposal, itemised in writing.
- 3. Install and aftercare by MCS-certified engineers.
- MCS Certified
- NICEIC
- RECC
- TrustMark
Common questions
How much does battery storage for a business cost in the UK?
As a 2026 rule of thumb, fully installed commercial battery storage lands at roughly £400-£700 per kWh of usable capacity for behind-the-meter systems, falling toward £250-£400/kWh at multi-MWh scale. A typical 250 kW / 500 kWh peak-shaving system is around £150,000-£300,000; a 100 kW / 200 kWh resilience system around £75,000-£140,000; a 1 MW / 2 MWh system £600,000-£1.2m. Cost turns on the power-to-energy ratio, chemistry, switchgear, and any grid-connection works. Qualifying plant attracts 100% AIA on the first £1m and a 50% first-year allowance on the balance.
What payback should a business expect on battery storage?
For behind-the-meter systems doing peak shaving and solar self-consumption, simple payback in 2026 typically falls between six and eight years, faster where red-band DUoS exposure or solar surplus is high. We build the number from your half-hourly meter data and share the full spreadsheet so your finance team can stress-test it. We treat any frequency-response or Balancing Mechanism income as upside, not the foundation of the case.
How is a business battery maintained, and what does it cost to run?
Through a planned O&M contract: remote 24/7 monitoring with automated alerts, periodic electrical inspection, firmware updates, thermal-management checks, and cell-balancing oversight through the battery management system. Most clients sign a ten-year-plus O&M agreement aligned to the cell warranty. Software-led optimisation, choosing when to charge and discharge against tariffs and DUoS bands, is usually included so the system keeps capturing maximum value as prices move.