EASE welcomes the Communication on “Accelerating Clean Energy Innovation”

EASE is very pleased that the European Commission has published its Communication on Accelerating Clean Energy Innovation which lays out a framework for action to increase public and private investments in low-carbon technologies and pushes for the development of clean energy business models. The Communication recognises the importance of energy storage by designating it as a priority area for clean energy research and innovation, alongside electro-mobility, decarbonisation of the building stock, and the integration of renewables.

EASE welcomes the Commission’s decision to invest more than €2 billion of the total 2018-2020 Horizon 2020 Work Programme budget in these four areas, a 35% increase compared to 2014-2015. Increased funding for research and demonstration projects will lead to significant advancements in energy storage technologies, including cost reductions, scaling-up of deployments, and a more competitive European energy storage industry.

Another promising development is the establishment of an EU pilot scheme modelled on the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to identify and fund projects with a high potential impact. Over the last seven years, ARPA-E has invested $1.6 billion in U.S. Government funding into transformational energy technology projects, including nearly 75 energy storage projects. Other countries are also prioritising energy storage R&D: the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry invested $700 million in energy storage in 2015 alone. This calls for an ambitious EU pilot scheme, supported by adequate funding as is invested in the U.S. and in Japan, to support innovation in the energy storage sector.

EASE is highly supportive of the Communication but is concerned that its annex focuses chiefly on batteries. All energy storage technologies should be placed on an equal footing and considered for funding. Drawing on the broad expertise of its members, EASE is happy to support the European institutions in identifying promising research areas for all types of energy storage technologies.

Enhanced public and private investments would contribute to the development of new and improved technologies, services, and business models while boosting growth and employment in the struggling European industrial sector. This is why EASE calls on the EU to consider further increasing the public funding allocated to energy storage. In addition, EASE would be happy to provide recommendations on how to increase private investment in the European energy storage industry.

Finally, EASE underlines that funding for energy storage research and innovation must also be complemented by efforts to improve the regulatory environment. EASE thus will continue to play a constructive role in shaping a fair market design for energy storage.