Successful Closing of Second Energy Storage Global Conference

From the 27th to the 29th of September 2016, the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) organised in Brussels the second Energy Storage Global Conference.

More than 220 delegates attended the Conference, which saw 49 speakers from the industry, research centres and international bodies from the electricity, renewables and storage sectors, as well as representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament and national administrations.

During the 3-day conference, experts from all over the world discussed the latest trends in a wide range of energy storage technologies, compared business cases, and assessed regulatory issues across segments and countries. Dr Zucker, Scientific/Technical Projects Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Mr Clerens, Secretary General of EASE, and Mr Raadschelders, Vice-President of EASE, summarised the main conclusions of the conference as follows:

• The speakers unanimously agreed that energy storage will play a vital role in the future energy system which is undergoing important changes right now Energy storage technologies are rapidly developing and are already commercially viable for a number of applications. It is now time for policymakers to catch up with these developments and create an enabling regulatory environment.
• Defining ‘energy storage’ in the upcoming Energy Market Design legislation is therefore a top priority to clarify its role in the energy system and to increase investor confidence.
• The Energy Market Design regulation also needs to address a number of barriers hampering the deployment of energy storage in Europe, such as undue tariffs and double-taxing of energy storage devices, unclear rules around the ownership of energy storage, and non-market based provision of ancillary services.
• European policies for RD&D in energy storage are using the right tools, but more funding is needed to reach the full potential of each energy storage technology, support continued upscaling and cost reductions, and encourage the emergence of new technologies in which European industries could become globally competitive.
• Continued cooperation of all different stakeholders including industry, utilities and regulators is vitally important to implement storage successfully as a value-adding element in the future energy system.

Mr Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President for the Energy Union, stressed the role of energy storage during his keynote speech on the last Conference day, stating that “storage is a prerequisite: For a massive increase of the share of renewables; For the electrification of the heat and transport sectors; For reaching greater flexibility of the market, such as demand response mechanisms; For empowering consumers to take control over their consumption; For limiting Europe's dependency on imported energy; For reducing the risk of blackouts or brownouts”.