Electricity

EU urged to back energy storage development alongside renewables, hydrogen

battery-energy-storage-solutions

Photo: Pixabay/Manuchi

Published

April 19, 2022

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

April 19, 2022

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

Four sustainable energy associations have called on the European Union (EU) to support the development of energy storage technologies alongside renewables and hydrogen, in order to meet its goals to ensure energy security, reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and achieve a net-zero power system.

To achieve this, the EU needs to provide strong political support for energy storage in the short term, creating market signals that would mobilize investments, according to a letter sent to the European Commission and the European Parliament by Breakthrough Energy, the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE), SolarPower Europe, and WindEurope.

The EU needs a massive and rapid roll-out of different energy storage technologies

A net-zero energy electricity system, with a high share of intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar, will require a range of flexibility solutions to balance the system, including storage at different duration levels. In this context, the EU needs a massive and rapid roll-out of different energy storage solutions – mechanical, thermal, electrochemical, electrical, and chemical storage, which are at various levels of technological maturity, according to the letter.

Specifically, the European Commission should take three steps in its REPowerEU action plan in May – set energy storage targets for 2030, promote the market uptake of energy storage technologies, and mainstream energy storage in the implementation of the action plan and in the ongoing review of the Electricity Market Design, according to the letter.

This should include extending contracts for difference under the Innovation Fund to cover energy storage, the four organizations said.

Energy storage should also be supported through countries’ national energy and climate plans (NECPs), while the EU urgently needs an energy storage strategy similar in scope and ambition as the existing hydrogen strategy, according to the letter.

Energy storage should also be backed through countries’ NECPs and an EU-wide strategy

In the review of the electricity market design, it is key to identify and lift barriers to storage uptake, such as the lack of implementation of EU legislation in member states and permitting bottlenecks, the organizations said.

The EU risks lagging behind the US and China in energy storage

The letter also warns the EU could find itself lagging behind on the global scale, as the US has been witnessing a surge in energy storage, with China developing ambitious plans to deploy storage solutions.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

europe energy crisis mickoski north macedonia

Europe is facing energy crisis in winter because of Ukraine

04 October 2024 - About half of Ukraine’s power generation capacity is out of operation, so it has turned from a net exporter of electricity to an importer

Major solar power projects lining up for permits in Montenegro

Major solar power projects lining up for permits in Montenegro

04 October 2024 - Investors are submitting another wave of applications to Montenegrin authorities for permits for major solar power projects

GEN-I second PV North Macedonia

GEN-I commissions its second PV plant in North Macedonia

03 October 2024 - GEN-I Group put into operation a 11.8 MW solar power plant in the municipality of Kavadarci in North Macedonia

EU Solar Jobs Report 2024 solarpower

Europe’s green job growth is faltering, solar workforce to increase 0.4% in 2024

03 October 2024 - The EU Solar Jobs Report 2024 has revised last year’s projection that the European Union would reach 1 million solar jobs by 2025