Storage enables electricity systems to remain in balance despite variations in wind and solar availability, allowing for cost-effective deep decarbonization while maintaining reliability. The Future of Energy Storage report is an essential analysis of this key component in decarbonizing our energy infrastructure and combating climate change.
This research is part of our Energy Storage Research Service which provides insight into key markets, competitors and issues shaping the sector. The European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE), established in 2011, is the leading member-supported association representing organisations active across the entire energy storage value chain.
EASE supports the deployment of energy storage to enable the cost-effective transition to a resilient, carbon-neutral, and secure energy system. The report covers 14 countries; Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Energy storage is a potential substitute for, or complement to, almost every aspect of a power system, including generation, transmission, and demand flexibility. Storage should be co-optimized with clean generation, transmission systems, and strategies to reward consumers for making their electricity use more flexible.
The technology at the most advanced stage of development is Pumped Thermal Energy Storage. There are no commercial operating projects in Europe with these technologies as of end of 2023. Projects like that will require additional support, as the current revenue stack is not enough to justify the initial investment.
This, coupled with Greece’s ambitious renewable targets and a constrained grid, create a necessity for energy storage that will only increase by 2030. In the long-term this will likely be supplemented by growth in co-located projects in the islands and in mainland Greece. A 200MW renewables + storage auction will take place in 2024.