The German Association of the Solar Energy Industry (BSW-Solar) predicts a fivefold increase in the installed capacity of large battery storage systems in Germany over the next two years. According to a market analysis carried out by Enervis at the request of the association, the 1.8 GWh of capacity currently installed in large storage tanks with a connected capacity of at least 1 MW will increase by around 7 GWh by 2026. For this purpose, the association evaluates projects that are pre-registered in the market master data register as well as company announcements of new projects in the media.
In addition to the 1.8 GWh of large-scale energy storage, there is also domestic PV storage capacity and battery storage for professional use. According to the analysis, by the end of the first half of 2024, 1.51 million household energy storage units were installed in Germany, with a total capacity of about 13 GWh. commercial battery storage capacity is about 1.1 GWh, bringing the total installed capacity close to 16 GWh.
As a result, installed storage capacity is increasing. However, photovoltaics is currently growing even faster. Installed capacity in Germany has already exceeded 90 GW, precisely on sunny days when electricity prices plummet or regulations on installations are needed. Storage is a way to deflect this injection or circumvent regulations in a timely manner.
BSW-Solar says that barriers to the installation and operation of energy storage systems must be removed before the end of the legislative term in order to accelerate the development of battery systems and ensure the integration of PV into the electricity system. In this way, disproportionate construction costs should be reduced and regulated in a uniform and legal way. In line with the association's request that the Federal Network Agency remove the dual grid tariff exemption for stored electricity, which was temporarily extended by lawmakers, there is also a need to actually use the flexibility of storage. “Finally, a key driver for the development of large-scale energy storage systems is the privilege granted to battery storage systems as part of the permitting process, as proposed by BSW-Solar for the upcoming building code amendments. Other energy transition technologies and energy sectors have been doing this for a long time.
Currently, the construction of large-scale energy storage facilities is mainly driven by the dynamics of the electricity market. Taking advantage of the spread between low and high electricity prices on the stock market is a business model that allows projects to proceed without additional subsidies. “The increasing injection of solar power into the grid, which lowers prices, makes increasingly cheap power storage an attractive business model,” explains Carsten Körnig, Managing Director of BSW-Solar.
But there are other options. “Large-scale battery storage systems should be developed more quickly as an ideal system complement to solar and wind to make supply more consistent and even more reliable,” the executive continued. “This would allow for a better balance between electricity production and consumption and avoid production spikes that overload the grid. The goal must be to rationalize peak production from solar and wind plants with flexible consumers, battery storage units and electrolysis tanks, rather than simply shutting down the units.
Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vVE-r7mmi41tvFdDO2ZEKQ
