While European power markets outpace the US and China for renewable energy deployment, the continent’s policymakers are yet to recognise the importance of energy storage for integrating that capacity onto the grid, new research from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables finds.
The election of Joe Biden as President of the US shows that Americans want to accelerate the transition to clean energy, Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the US national Energy Storage Association, has said.
New work from consultancy Atkins shows that alongside a huge step up in solar and wind deployments, the UK needs to install a significant amount of energy storage to achieve its ‘net zero by 2050’ target.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has awarded 200MW of renewable energy capacity in a reverse auction, while the state government has emphasised the significant role large-scale batteries that were also handed contracts will play in the region’s transition to cleaner energy.
A representative of US energy holding company Duke Energy said yesterday that “no major technological breakthroughs would be required” for it to reach 2030 emissions reduction goals and that battery storage will play an important role.
Within the US, different jurisdictions are at different points of DER adoption and interconnection: Ravi Subramaniam at IEEE asks commissioners from across the country about the different drivers and dynamics they see.
Australian utility AGL is now inviting tenders to procure battery storage which will help it meet climate and sustainability goals – but the company expects to be economically dependent on coal as well as gas for years to come.
It is likely Spain will introduce “important regulatory changes in the coming years” to enable the European country to meet a national target of deploying 2.5GW of energy storage by 2030, analysts at consultancy firm Clean Horizon have said.
More electricity storage and longer durations will be needed for the UK to meet net zero, according to electricity system operator National Grid ESO’s latest modelling.
