Why are we legislating electricity storage?

Why are we legislating? Electricity storage covers a range of technologies that store low carbon energy for when it is needed, for example in batteries on the wall of your home or business, or in facilities that pump water to higher reservoirs when electricity is abundant, and let it flow back down through a turbine when it is scarce.

What does the European Commission say about energy storage?

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.

Should electricity storage be formalised as a subset of generation?

Formalising electricity storage as a distinct subset of generation removes current ambiguities and provides long term clarity and certainty over its treatment within the existing frameworks (e.g. planning and licensing) and possible future frameworks.

Why is energy storage important in the EU?

It can also facilitate the electrification of different economic sectors, notably buildings and transport. The main energy storage method in the EU is by far 'pumped hydro' storage, but battery storage projects are rising. A variety of new technologies to store energy are also rapidly developing and becoming increasingly market-competitive.

How much energy storage capacity does the EU need?

These studies point to more than 200 GW and 600 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030 and 2050 respectively (from roughly 60 GW in 2022, mainly in the form of pumped hydro storage). The EU needs a strong, sustainable, and resilient industrial value chain for energy-storage technologies.

How can we create a best-in-class regulatory framework for electricity storage?

This focuses on actions to create a best-in-class regulatory framework by removing regulatory and policy barriers to the implementation of storage, ensuring that markets reflect the value of flexibility to the system and investing in innovation. Defining electricity storage in primary legislation is central to this approach.