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E D I T O R ' S N O T E The champagne was still owing at the eight energy storage providers who landed contracts with National Grid's enhanced frequency response service as Network went to press. The contracts, worth almost £66 million in total, are a major boon to their recipients. It's o• en been said in these pages that demonstrating a viable business case for energy storage is the major barrier to the growth of edgling manufacturers and ser- vice providers. Now, here are eight companies – listed on page 24 – with a variety of battery technologies, providing essential support to the UK's system operator and bagging themselves mil- lions into the bargain. National Grid's awards for 200MW of EFR are the Š rst of their kind in the UK and collectively represent the biggest deal for the storage sector globally this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. As such, they have been welcomed by most as a signiŠ cant Š llip for the sector as a whole. But every silver lining has a cloud, and even before the EFR contracts were announced in late August, there were also voices pointing out that the celebrants would be far outstripped by disappointed bidders. With no visibility of more EFR contracts, or similar, in the pipeline, Smartest Energy, an aggregator, warned that uncertainty is still a very real problem for most energy storage players. "What's next?" for the providers that didn't win a contract, it asked. The answer may soon become apparent as responses ood in to the smart systems call for evidence, expected in early September. The call, issued by Ofgem and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, devotes considerable space to the prospects and potential of energy storage. It shares thoughts on "undue" barriers to the industry's development including "dou- ble charging" and consumption levies as well as asset classiŠ ca- tion and planning regulations. As with most government processes, the call won't lead to imme- diate remedies to these problems – that will take months at best – but it should give greater clarity on the direction of thinking in government and at the regulator about the role they would like storage to play in the future energy system. Notably, the call will give insight into the possible future of DNO interaction with storage, most likely as local system operators with their own EFR-style contracts to o˜ er eager bidders. C OMING SO ON ∙ Smart meter installation challenges • Network innovation themes • LCNI Conference review • Decentralised energy • CCS and the future of gas YOUR NET W ORK Give the people what they want Let us know what projects, technologies and topics you want us to cover Have your say Express your opinions and respond to content by blogging or writing for the magazine A social Network Follow us on Twitter: @Network_mag Email the editor: janegray@fav-house.com NETWORK / 5 / SEPTEMBER 2016 Jane Gray janegray@fav-house.com