Global pledge signed to boost energy storage six times to 1.5 TW

There are 58 countries and 48 organizations and companies on the list of signatories of the COP29 Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge. They called for increasing capability by six times to 1.5 TW before the end of the decade to facilitate the energy transition.

At the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29, energy storage and grids – clean flexibility – have been officially acknowledged for the first time as imperative components of the energy transition. The Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) said 58 countries and 48 organizations and corporations have so far signed the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge.

The initiative is to increase global capacity or capability six times above the 2022 level, reaching 1.5 TW by 2030. The energy storage pledge also sets out a commitment to enhance grid capacity through a global goal of adding or refurbishing 25 million kilometers in the same period. GRA said the flexibility goals are required to triple renewables capacity, as agreed at COP28.

The alliance was founded by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Global Solar Council (GSC), International Hydropower Association (IHA), International Geothermal Association (IGA), Long Duration Energy Storage Council and Green Hydrogen Organisation (GH2).

There are 17 European Union member states among the signatories including Germany, Italy, Spain and Hungary. Of the region that Balkan Green Energy News covers, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey are on the list.

Storage target easily achievable but national plans lacking

The Group of Seven (G7) endorsed the 1.5 TW target in April. Energy think tank Ember said the level is consistent with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) net zero pathway. Its analysis found that it is even possible to exceed the goal significantly.

Ember: Every 5 MW of renewables needs to be matched by 1 MW of storage

It would require only 1 MW of storage for every 5 MW of renewables installed by the end of the decade, according to Ember. The supply chain is not a constraint: already by 2025, annual battery manufacturing capacity will have risen to supply the 1.5 TW goal eight times over by 2030, the organization claimed.

It noted that the prices of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells dropped 39% over the past 12 months. However, few governments have national storage targets, Ember said. IEA said projects for at least 3 TW in renewables, of which 1.5 TW in an advanced stage, are waiting in grid connection queues. While the storage goal seems possible, the grid buildup rate needs to increase by double, the report reveals.

Long-duration storage capacity needs exceed two thirds of pledge goal to complement it

To complement the storage target from the pledge, the Long Duration Energy Storage Council envisages a need for LDES capacity – power and thermal storage – of more than 1 TW by 2030 and up to 8 TW by 2040 to achieve net zero, its Chief Executive Officer Julia Souder said.

The sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. The energy system thus needs to store surplus when demand is weaker than supply and there is ample renewable energy. It can be released in the form of electricity or as heat supplied through thermal energy storage such as solar thermal solutions.

The need for storage can be over shorter durations – minutes or hours to provide grid stability – or across days, weeks, and even seasons, depending on the specific characteristics of each electricity grid, such as the specific mix of wind and solar, the level of interconnections with other grids or energy systems.

Longer-duration storage technologies can reduce the need for additional renewables buildout and transmission infrastructure upgrades.

Pumped storage hydropower makes up over 90% of storage capacity on the grids. Other technologies such as molten salt are gaining in demand. Compressed air and liquid carbon dioxide could pick up as well. Fuels based on green hydrogen store energy in chemical bonds. Electrochemical batteries come in a wide range of chemistries with different usage profiles to complement lithium ions.