With more and more renewable energy sources (RES) going into power grids, the balancing of supply and demand during peak times will be a growing challenge due to the inherent intermittency and unpredictable nature of RES. Grid level batteries can store energy when there is excess generation from wind and solar and discharge it to meet variable peak demand that is traditionally supplied by combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants. This paper assesses the potential of battery storage to replace CCGT in responding to variable peak demand for current and future energy scenarios (FES) in the UK from technical and environmental perspectives. Results from technical analysis show that batteries, assuming size is optimised for different supply and demand scenarios proposed by the National Grid, are able to supply 6.04%, 13.5% and 29.1% of the total variable peak demand in 2016, 2020 and 2035, respectively while CCGT plants supply the rest of the demand. Particularly, to phase out CCGT variable generation from the UK grid in 2035, electricity supply from wind and solar needs to increase by 1.33 times their predicted supply in National Grid's FES. The environmental implications of replacing CCGT by batteries are studied and compared through a simplified life cycle assessment (LCA). Results from LCA studies show that if batteries are used in place of CCGT, it can reduce up to 87% of greenhouse gas emissions and that is an estimated 1.98 MtCO₂ eq. for an optimal supply, 29.1%, of variable peak demand in 2035.

随着越来越多的可再生能源（RES）进入电网，由于RES固有的间歇性和不可预测的特性，在高峰时段供需之间的平衡将成为日益严峻的挑战。当风能和太阳能产生过量发电时，电网级电池可以存储能量，并将其放电以满足传统上由联合循环燃气轮机（CCGT）电厂提供的可变峰值需求。本文从技术和环境角度评估了电池存储替代CCGT的潜力，以应对英国当前和未来能源情景（FES）不断变化的峰值需求。技术分析的结果表明，假设为国家电网提出的不同供需方案优化了尺寸，则电池能够提供6.04％，13.5％和29％的电量。在2016年，2020年和2035年，可变高峰需求总量的1％分别由CCGT工厂提供。特别是，为了在2035年从英国电网中逐步淘汰CCGT变量发电，风能和太阳能的电力供应需要增加其国家电网FES预计供应量的1.33倍。通过简化的生命周期评估（LCA），研究并比较了用电池代替CCGT的环境影响。LCA研究的结果表明，如果使用电池代替CCGT，可以减少多达87％的温室气体排放，估计约为1.98 MtCO 是国家电网FES预计供应量的33倍。通过简化的生命周期评估（LCA），研究并比较了用电池代替CCGT的环境影响。LCA研究的结果表明，如果使用电池代替CCGT，可以减少多达87％的温室气体排放，估计约为1.98 MtCO 是国家电网FES预计供应量的33倍。通过简化的生命周期评估（LCA），研究并比较了用电池代替CCGT的环境影响。LCA研究的结果表明，如果使用电池代替CCGT，可以减少多达87％的温室气体排放，估计约为1.98 MtCO₂当量 到2035年，最佳供应量（可变高峰需求的29.1％）。