How Energy Storage Gets Built with Bex Sherwood (Field)

Sep 25, 2025

Bex Sherwood, Head of Development at Field and chair of Regen’s Planning Working Group, dives into the intricate world of grid-scale battery storage. She explains how projects evolve from initial planning through to operation, emphasizing the critical role of connections reform and the impact of Clean Power 2030. Bex also highlights the challenges in land acquisition, the importance of workforce diversity in STEM, and Field's innovative in-house optimization platform. Tune in for insights on aligning energy storage with community needs and the future of sustainable energy.

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ADVICE

Prepare For Parallel Costs After Land Commitment

Run land and grid processes in parallel and be ready for costs to ramp after committing to land.
Budget for annual grid securities and escalating prep costs before ordering equipment.

INSIGHT

Development Timelines Threaten 2030 Targets

Typical UK development from site ID to planning can take ~4 years and cost over £1m before component orders.
Long transformer lead times and planning timelines threaten Clean Power 2030 delivery.

ADVICE

Secure Gate 2 Protections Where Possible

Use Gate 2 protections for projects that reach planning-submitted to safeguard development investment.
Aim to secure contractual milestones (e.g., CM contracts, FID) that grant queue protections.

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How do you take a battery project from an empty field to a grid-connected asset that actually supports the system? And with queue reforms, planning pressure, and shifting revenue stacks, what does it now take to move storage from idea to operation at speed *and* at scale?

Today we’re taking a look how sites are found, why connections and planning timelines make or break projects, and which policy changes (from connections reform to Clean Power 2030) matter most for accelerating flexible capacity on the system.

In this episode, Ed is joined joined by Bex Sherwood, Head of Development at Field, to unpack how a storage developer navigates origination, planning, construction and optimisation and where the biggest bottlenecks (and opportunities) now sit.

Key topics covered include:

How battery storage projects are developed. From day zero through to operations.
The impact of Clean Power 2030 and connections reform on storage growth.
The key challenges developers face in planning and permitting.
How Field has evolved since 2023, moving from developer to owner, operator, and optimiser.
Why diversity in the workforce matters for the future of batteries and STEM.

About our guest

Bex Sherwood is Head of Development at Field, a developer, owner, operator and optimiser of grid-scale battery storage; she also chairs Regen’s Planning Working Group, focusing on practical reforms to speed well-sited, system-friendly projects. For more information about Field, head to their website.

About Modo Energy

Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.

All of our interviews are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To keep up with all of our latest updates, research, analysis, videos, conversations, data visualizations, live events, and more, follow us on LinkedIn. Check out The Energy Academy, our bite-sized video series breaking down how power markets work.