BESS: The charged debate over battery energy storage systems, bbc.co.uk

Complaint

This online article provided a brief summary of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the UK and how they can store electricity generated from renewable sources to meet future electricity demand.Β  It included a contribution from a professor of public policy and sustainability which, in the view of a reader, gave a misleading impression of the UK’s current energy storage capacity.Β  The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s editorial standards of accuracy.Β 


Outcome

The ECU established that the professor had been referring to generating capacity, not storage capacity.  However, his contribution had been placed in a context where readers  would probably have understood him to be referring to the latter, and would have formed an inaccurate view of the UK’s current storage capacity as a result.

Upheld


Further action

The finding was discussed with the journalists concerned and the article has been appropriately amended.