I also consent to having my name published. Energy storage is key to secure constant renewable energy supply to power systems – even when the sun does not shine, and the wind does not blow. Energy storage provides a solution to achieve flexibility, enhance grid reliability and power quality, and accommodate the scale-up of renewable energy.
In addition to new storage technologies, energy storage systems need an enabling environment that facilitates their financing and implementation, which requires broad support from many stakeholders.
Mainstreaming energy storage systems in the developing world will be a game changer. They will accelerate much wider access to electricity, while also enabling much greater use of renewable energy, so helping the world to meet its net zero, decarbonization targets.
These are characterized by poor security of supply, driven by a combination of insufficient, unreliable and inflexible generation capacity, underdeveloped or non-existent grid infrastructure, a lack of adequate monitoring and control equipment, and a lack of maintenance. In this context, energy storage can help enhance reliability.
The Commission adopted in March 2023 a list of recommendations to ensure greater deployment of energy storage, accompanied by a staff working document, providing an outlook of the EU’s current regulatory, market, and financing framework for storage and identifies barriers, opportunities and best practices for its development and deployment.
Energy storage involves converting energy from forms that are difficult to store to more conveniently or economically storable forms. Some technologies provide short-term energy storage, while others can endure for much longer. Bulk energy storage is currently dominated by hydroelectric dams, both conventional as well as pumped.