Europe's energy transition hinges on energy storage action plan

Europe’s clean tech industry groups are unanimous in their calls for a comprehensive action plan on energy storage which would enable the EU’s further transition to a renewables-powered electricity grid.

At an event held in Brussels earlier this week, the Energy Storage Coalition launched a campaign calling on the European Commission (EC) to adopt an Action Plan on Energy Storage as the EU enters a new five-year term, setting up priorities that will shape the political and policy agenda until 2029.

The organization consisted of four key clean energy actors – SolarPower Europe, The European Association for Storage of Energy, WindEurope, and Breakthrough Energy – and said that the plan is building on “the work already done by the DG Energy and the European Parliament, that will enable Member States and stakeholders to fully leverage the opportunities available, providing clarity for investors, removing barriers, and ensuring that energy storage can fulfil its crucially needed role in Europe’s energy transition.”

While recent EU legislation, including the Clean Energy Package and the Electricity Market Design reform, have laid a foundation for renewable energy and storage, significant barriers to widespread storage deployment remain.

“The success of the energy transition depends on energy storage and renewables working together. The reform of the Electricity Market Design is a great step forward, but we need clear regulatory guidance and targeted incentives to unlock the full potential of energy storage across the EU,” said Doriana Forleo, executive director at the Energy Storage Coalition.

The Energy Storage Coalition highlights five essential elements that should be included in the proposed Action Plan:

Provide dedicated incentives for energy storage
Harmonize permitting and grid connection rules for storage deployment
Set a fair framework for network charges and levies (for instance, eliminate double taxation which regards and charges energy storage systems as both generators and consumers, having a negative impact on investments in and use of storage)
Prioritize energy storage in capacity markets and launch dedicated auctions for energy storage and flexibility solutions
Monitor energy storage growth in the National Energy and Climate Plans

The Energy Storage Coalition’s call aligns with previous European Parliament recommendations, which in 2020 called for a strategy on energy storage but failed flat. Patrick Clerens, Secretary General of EASE – The European Association for Storage of Energy, said: “It’s high time for the EC to do what they were asked in 2020. The Action Plan is about pushing renewables and storage forward, attracting investments and ensuring Europe’s energy security.”

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said now is the right time to act on storage as we are facing more and more bottlenecks in deployment of renewables. “We deployed around a record-breaking 60 GW of solar last year, however we urgently need the flexibility in the energy system coming from storage in order to maintain our growth rates and achieve our energy transition targets, as well as ensure 24/7 renewable energy supply.”

“Our Mission Solar 2040 study estimates that 1.2 TWh of storage will be required to meet solar energy targets and save the system EUR 160 billion by 2040. This is up from 36 GWh of cumulative capacity last year. We need an EU Energy Storage Action Plan to achieve this!”

For the rollout of wind power in Europe to continue at pace, energy storage deployment plays a crucial role. Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, said: “Wind is providing around 20% of electricity in the EU today. The EU aims for wind energy to make up 35% of all electricity consumed by 2030, but these ambitions are at stake since the grid is not optimized and flexible enough. We in the industry want to deliver on the targets but we need more incentives for energy storage to make it happen.”