Why Australia's super funds should look to Britain's battery playbook

Australia's $4.3 trillion superannuation system is one of the world's most influential sources of long-term capital.

- Tony Dalwood

It shapes the nation's financial markets, underpins retirement outcomes for millions of Australians, and increasingly, it has a critical role to play in financing the energy transition.

Yet when it comes to battery storage - the enabling infrastructure that underwrites renewable energy reliability - local deployment remains far behind where it needs to be.

In the span of five years, the UK transformed battery storage from a niche allocation into an investable institutional asset class. The lesson for Australia's super funds is clear: the opportunity to deliver attractive, unsubsidised financial returns to investors is here, and the time to seize it is now.

Britain's battery revolution

From less than 1GW of installed capacity in 2019 to more than 6GW operational today, Britain has built the foundations of a flexible, resilient, and decarbonised electricity system. It is a model that is fast becoming a blueprint for power grids around the world. This regulatory certainty and robust operating framework have paved the way towards achieving the 23-27 GW of installed capacity needed by 2030. A development pipeline of 127 GW, coupled with growing interest from institutional investors - including Australia's largest superannuation funds and other infrastructure investors - is creating the liquidity and market environment necessary to make this a reality.

This transformation was driven by consistent policy, market innovation, and a clear recognition that the energy transition requires large-scale investable storage. Key mechanisms such as capacity markets, balancing services, and long-term ancillary contracts created an attractive revenue environment, offering increasingly predictable and stable income streams.

Cross-market momentum