UK Clean Flexibility Roadmap Update: What It Says About Batteries and Smart Meters
The government published the July 2026 update to its Clean Flexibility Roadmap on 13 July. It reports progress on grid batteries and smart meters, but gives no capacity or installation figures for home batteries.
Grid batteries and long duration storage
The update says grid-scale battery capacity reached 7.5 GW at the end of 2025, including a record 2.3 GW added during 2025. It also cites Ofgem's provisional decision of 26 June, which it describes as backing 16 long duration storage projects totalling 7.6 GW and 137 GWh, with final decisions due in autumn 2026.
Ofgem's announcement says the consultation on that list runs until 7 August. These are grid projects, not home systems, but they show where flexibility investment is heading.
Consumer flexibility
The government says 170 MW of new consumer-led flexibility became available to dispatch through NESO markets, meeting its first-year target. The update also says it will assess by the first quarter of 2027 whether consumers can use flexible tariffs to access government support for low-carbon technologies.
A proposed smart mandate with minimum standards for smart battery systems, and removing levies on electricity re-exported from domestic batteries and vehicles, appear among the measures. The update says legislation will follow 'when parliamentary time allows'. We could not find dates for these, so none should be treated as settled. A Battery Health and Safety Governance Group is due to publish its first annual report in December 2026.
Smart meters and half-hourly settlement
By mid-June 2026, more than 11.3 million smart meters had moved to half-hourly settlement, about a third of Britain's metering systems. The programme is on track to migrate every meter by May 2027, according to the update. Ofgem will consult on how the price cap should adapt, with proposals for 2027 expected after summer engagement, and the first phase of time-of-use tariff data standards is due in February 2027.
For battery owners, tariffs priced by time of day are what make shifting energy worthwhile. The update does not say which tariffs suppliers will launch, so we would not assume new products are imminent.
What it does not say
The roadmap contains no home battery capacity or deployment figures. It refers to the Warm Homes Plan, which it describes as £15 billion to upgrade up to 5 million homes with batteries, heat pumps and solar by 2030, but gives no battery numbers for it.
Our advice is unchanged: judge a battery on your own usage and tariff. For the wider grid picture, see home batteries and the grid: problem or solution? and the UK country guide.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Clean Flexibility Roadmap, July 2026 update
- Ofgem: Ofgem boosts long duration storage to secure more homegrown energy for customers
Related guides
Want to know which battery size fits your home?
Use our free calculator to get a size, savings and payback estimate.