Everything you need to know about battery storage

What is battery storage?

The EU called upon to invest massively in electricity storage

In terms of energy transition, the European Union (EU) recently proposed a reform of the electricity market. Why? To strengthen security of supply and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The energy crisis, intensified by the war in Ukraine, has highlighted the need for massive investment in renewable energy (RE), particularly electricity storage.

Paula Pinho, Director of Energy Security at the Commission, said of storage: "We want it to become a hot topic across the EU. We haven't done enough in this area."

To meet the EU's climate ambitions of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, greater use of this solution, which is experiencing very strong growth, must be made. Indeed, in 2022, battery energy storage (BESS) represented nearly 9 GWh deployed, while in 2023, it amounted to approximately 36 GWh*.

In this race to invest in storage, Germany dominates the market with nearly 6 GWh deployed in 2023, followed by Italy, with an increase of more than 85% in storage capacity (3.7 GWh) and the United Kingdom with 2.7 GWh**.

🤔 What do you think of the idea of ​​a storage bank?

Following Following the announcement of a public hydrogen bank in March 2023, Patryk Demski, vice president of Polish electricity producer Tauron, expressed the same idea regarding storage.

"I really think we need, if the European Union agrees on this, an 'energy storage bank'. In terms of hydrogen, the announcement of a public bank has attracted capital."

Do you think this project should see the light of day?

Italy breaks growth records!

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Italian government submitted a national recovery plan – including the so-called “Superbonus” scheme – which, given the figures announced later, has had a considerable impact. These renovation subsidies, with a tax credit of up to 110% of the cost of the work carried out, have greatly boosted the residential battery energy storage market, growing from 94 MWh in 2020 to 321 MWh in 2021. This incentive for change is therefore a great success that has allowed Italy to consolidate its second place with 11% of the total residential battery storage capacity deployed in Europe.

Italy's growth in electricity production from renewable energy sources is surpassing all expectations, surpassing that of fossil fuels for the first time, according to the Italian electricity grid operator, Terna. On June 22, 2024, hourly electricity production from renewable sources reached a historic high of 33.2 gigawatts (GWh). In the field of electricity storage, 2024 also marks a significant step forward! At the beginning of the year, Italy had 518,950 storage systems linked to renewable energy projects, compared to only 653 in 2015.***

🤔 Where is electricity storage most developed?

• Lombardy is the place where storage systems are most developed, with a combined capacity of 617 MW/1,210 MWh.
• Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna account for the majority of installations, representing nearly 58% of the national total.****

France's largest energy storage battery is being installed near Reims

The Marne is hosting a large-scale energy storage battery project! Led by the company TagEnergy, this installation, with a power output of 240 MW and a storage capacity of 480 MWh, will be able to store nearly 20% of the residential electricity needs of the department's residents! The largest storage site in France (140 battery containers, 70 medium-voltage transformers, and 2 high-voltage transformers), this mega-battery will be commissioned by the end of 2025. So why is this project causing a stir in the storage world? Because it involves a partnership with Tesla, which supplies its Megapack storage units, one of the safest battery storage products in its category.

Connected to the high-voltage grid, this giant battery represents a turning point in carbon-free energy. Responding to peak demand, it is one of the answers to the challenges of electricity supply and the integration of renewable energies into the national energy mix.

“Thanks to an innovative financing structure and the deployment of large-scale storage, the Cernay-lès-Reims battery project will significantly contribute to France’s energy sovereignty while strengthening grid stability as the share of renewable energies grows,” says Franck Woitiez, CEO of TagEnergy.

Congratulations to Amarenco!

“The energy transition cannot be fully achieved without an effective solution for energy storage; simply because the intermittency of renewable energy production requires advanced storage technologies to guarantee a stable and continuous energy supply. » Alexandre Irissou, Head of the Storage Branch at Amarenco.

👀 Focus on fundraising Saucats Storage

The Claudia project, located in Saucats (Gironde), is one of the largest European energy storage infrastructures. With a capacity of 105 MW and storage of 98 MWh, Claudia supports the grid by offering essential services such as capacity reserve and frequency rebalancing for RTE. This project is fully in line with France's Multi-Year Energy Program (PPE), and meets the estimated needs of 6 GW by 2030 according to RTE, to absorb the growing renewable energy production capacity in the coming years.

The advantages of the Claudia asset:

• grid stabilization: by ensuring the security of supply, particularly during winter demand peaks;
• decarbonization of consumption peaks: by replacing gas or coal-fired power plants with stored renewable energy;
• contribution to controlling electricity costs: by reducing imports and regulating fluctuations tariffs;
• flexibility and small footprint: a compact and reversible installation, which can be easily located near RTE transformer stations to minimize the environmental impact.