Commercial battery storage in the East Midlands

Commercial battery storage in the East Midlands is priced by National Grid Electricity Distribution's East Midlands licence area, which covers Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Rutland. The same red band, the same unit rates and the same capacity charge apply whether the site is a Bulwell manufacturer, a Magna Park warehouse or a Derby aerospace supplier. That is useful: the regional figures below are the ones to put in a board paper before any installer's estimate.

The East Midlands red band and what it costs in 2026/27

National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) plc publishes its distribution use-of-system charges each year. For the charging year from 1 April 2026 (status Final) the time bands for half-hourly metered premises are: red 16:00 to 19:00, Monday to Friday including bank holidays; amber 07:30 to 16:00 and 19:00 to 21:00 on weekdays; green from 21:00 to 07:30 and all weekend. The LV Site Specific unit rates, the tariff most low-voltage business premises on half-hourly settlement pay, are 7.777p/kWh red, 0.958p amber and 0.054p green. The red rate is about 144 times the green rate. On an HV supply the rates are 2.837p, 0.257p and 0.009p.

A battery that carries a site's load through those three hours and recharges overnight avoids almost the whole red rate on every unit it moves. On 150 kW held off the grid for the full band on each of 261 weekdays, that is 117,450 kWh a year and roughly £9,000 of distribution unit charges. The peak shaving calculator loads these East Midlands rates and lets you put in your own peak, battery size and tariff. Our DUoS guide explains how these charges reach your bill, and the targeted charging review guide explains the fixed residual part that a battery cannot change.

Capacity charges in the East Midlands

The same schedule sets the capacity charge at 7.68p per kVA per day on an LV Site Specific tariff, which is £28.03 per kVA per year, with an exceeded-capacity charge at the same rate for any kVA above the agreed figure in a month. A site holding 100 kVA of unused agreed capacity is paying about £2,800 a year for headroom. If a battery removes the peak reliably enough for the network operator to agree a lower capacity, that is the second saving; if the site then exceeds the new figure, the exceeded-capacity rate applies. Our guide to whether a battery can reduce your kVA charge sets out when a reduction is realistic and when it is not.

Connecting a battery: G99 with National Grid Electricity Distribution

Any generation or storage above 16 A per phase, which is 3.68 kW on a single-phase supply and about 11 kW three-phase, needs a G99 application to the network operator and its approval before the equipment is connected; below that threshold the simpler G98 "connect and notify" route applies. A commercial battery is far above the threshold, and in the East Midlands the application goes to National Grid Electricity Distribution. The connection timescale is in the operator's hands and can set the programme, so it belongs at the start of a project, not the end. Our G99 application guide covers what the application involves; the site survey, installation and commissioning detail is the lane of our sibling site on commercial battery storage installation, and prices and quotes belong with battery storage quotes.

Solar yield in the East Midlands, for solar-plus-storage sizing

Where a battery is paired with solar, the size of the surplus depends on yield. The European Commission's PVGIS tool, run for Leicester (52.64°N, 1.14°W) with a south-facing array at 35° tilt and 14% system losses, gives 981 kWh per kWp per year, so a 100 kWp roof produces around 98,000 kWh a year and a 4 kWp array around 3,900 kWh. The honest wording for the region is around 950 to 1,000 kWh per kWp. Battery sizing for solar-plus-storage follows from the surplus that yield spills in the middle of a working day, which the solar battery storage page explains, and from the AC or DC coupling choice on our coupling guide.

Regional programmes: the Midlands Net Zero Hub and the EMCCA energy plan

Two regional bodies shape the local policy backdrop, and neither is a battery grant. The Midlands Net Zero Hub is one of five local net zero hubs in England, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and hosted by Nottingham City Council; it develops local energy projects and procures work such as local area energy plans and retrofit support on behalf of councils across the Midlands. The East Midlands Combined County Authority, chaired by Mayor Claire Ward, backed a Local Area Energy Plan for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire on 30 May 2024, a data-driven net zero action plan designed with the Midlands Net Zero Hub and delivered by Mott MacDonald and Integrated Environmental Solutions, with implementation funded over two years. The published plan summary names heat pumps, EV charging and insulation; it does not mention battery storage or grid flexibility, so a business should not expect a storage incentive from it. The practical point is different: a plan that identifies where EV charging and heat pumps are to go is also a map of where network capacity will tighten, which is where a battery that beats a connection constraint earns its place.

Where the region's battery demand is

Search demand for commercial battery storage in the East Midlands is concentrated in a handful of places, and this site has a page for each. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire: the city's industrial estates and the county's logistics belt along the M1, with the city council's own carbon-neutral target. Leicester: textiles, food manufacturing and the Magna Park distribution cluster to the south. Derby: aerospace, rail and automotive supply chains with sharp weekday peaks. Northampton and Northamptonshire: distribution and logistics on the M1 and A45 corridors, where backup power and capacity headroom come up as often as bills. Each page has the local grid picture, named estates and postcode districts; this page carries what they share.

What an East Midlands business should do first

1. Get a year of half-hourly data from your supplier or meter operator and count the weekdays the site peaks between 16:00 and 19:00.
2. Run the peak shaving calculator on the East Midlands rates with that peak, then halve the result to see whether the case survives.
3. Ask the network operator about a G99 application and a lower agreed capacity at your connection, before you talk to installers.
4. Read the tax position: no grant, but the Annual Investment Allowance and, for companies, the 50% first-year allowance, on our VAT and capital allowances guide.
5. Compare quotes in writing using our quote checklist, and ask each bidder to show the red-band figure it used.

Sources for the figures on this page

• National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) plc, Schedule of charges and other tables 2026/27, Annex 1 LV, HV and Unmetered Supplies charges (effective 1 April 2026, Final), read 2026-10-29: time bands, unit rates, capacity and exceeded-capacity charges.
• National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West) plc, Schedule of charges 2026/27, for the cross-regional comparison on the calculator page.
• European Commission PVGIS (v5.3, SARAH3), Leicester 52.6369, −1.1398, 35° tilt, due south, 14% system loss: 981 kWh/kWp/year, read 2026-10-18.
• East Midlands Combined County Authority, "East Midlands Mayor gives green light to country's largest local area energy plan" (30 May 2024).
• My Nottingham News (Nottingham City Council) and Find a Tender notice 001754-2023: the Midlands Net Zero Hub is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, is one of five local net zero hubs in England and is hosted by Nottingham City Council.
• ENA Engineering Recommendations G98 and G99: the 16 A per phase threshold between notification and application (see our G99 guide for the ENA source).