In Great Britain, battery energy storage revenues fell 14% in September - to £48k/MW/year. Despite the decrease, September was still the fourth-highest revenue month of 2024 so far.
Wholesale trading revenues hold up during September
Revenues from the Balancing Mechanism fell in September - from the all-time high seen in August 2024. Similarly, frequency response revenues decreased by £5k/MW/year - to £6.2k/MW/year.
Despite lower average monthly revenues, 10th September was the highest-earning single day for batteries since 14th October 2023. This was due to a combination of high Balancing Mechanism revenues and wholesale trading revenues.
Across the month, wholesale trading revenues were consistent with those seen in August - £21k/MW/year. Capacity Market revenue also remained consistent with August - but this will likely change in October as the new delivery year begins.
Various factors, including wind generation, gas and carbon prices, and in-merit dispatch rates drive battery revenues. September saw a reduction across most of these macro factors.
Batteries made their highest average revenues from negative prices in the Balancing Mechanism since May
Batteries in the Balancing Mechanism have been increasingly dispatched for bid volume at negative prices in 2024. This means that batteries get paid to charge up. This is the same effect as negative prices in wholesale markets.
Despite a 15% reduction in wind generation from August to September, batteries generated more revenues (on average) from negatively priced bids.