Welcome on Board Alpiq

The European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) is glad to extend a warm welcome to its newest member Alpiq who joined EASE in September 2024. Lukas Gresnigt, Head Business Division International at Alpiq and Antonio Zecchino, Lead Storage Developer at Alpiq, accepted to discuss with us the expertise of Alpiq, in energy storage and expectations from this collaboration with EASE.

EASE: Mr Gresnigt and Mr Zecchino, thank you very much for accepting this interview. We are very happy to have Alpiq among our members and we would like to know more about your activities in the sector. Could you summarise the most interesting insights from the work of your company for energy storage?

Lukas Gresnigt: Energy storage and the operation and optimization of storage facilities is in Alpiq's DNA. Alpiq has a long tradition as owner and operator of hydropower plants in the Alps. Optimizing the storage capacity of the hydro reservoirs is at the core of Alpiq’s activities. This enables us to provide seasonal storage, filling the reservoirs during the summer and use it to produce renewable electricity when it is needed, especially in the winter months. This contributes to security of supply in Switzerland. The 900 MW/20 GWh pumped storage plant Nant de Drance (Alpiq’s share is 39 %) was inaugurated in 2022 and provides medium term storage; this flexibility enables the integration of intermittent renewable energy, wind and solar. Earlier this year Alpiq announced its first BESS investment (in Finland) and we expect to announce more BESS investments later in the coming months, which will help us increasing our short-term flexibility footprint.

EASE: We look forward to a very fruitful collaboration with you and to receive Alpiq inputs for our Working Groups and Task Forces. What created the interest from your company to join EASE?

Antonio Zecchino: Alpiq’s interest in the key role that energy storage is playing in modern, greener energy system is the driver to join EASE. In this fast-evolving sector it is important to exploit synergies across several actors along the storage ecosystem, to ensure an aligned advocacy towards all stakeholder and develop common standards to enable the energy storage to live up to its full potential. Encouraging technological developments, set sustainability standards and share best-practices in safety, Alpiq aims to expand its role in energy storage as owner, operator and optimizer, focussing for now on hydropower and BESS. By joining EASE we can play our role to ensure energy storage can live up to its potential in the energy transition.

EASE: What is your vision for how energy storage can contribute to the energy transition?

Lukas Gresnigt: The expansion of electricity production from renewables is the key driver to decarbonize energy systems. However, this alone is not enough, wind and solar that dominate the capacity expansion are intermittent and only with enough flexibility can we fully benefit from these renewable energy resources. This requires a whole range of short- and long-term storage systems and flexible power plants. Ember (a clean energy think tank) assessed the need for flexibility in Europe will double by 2030 and needs to expand to 7 times today’s capacity to achieve the 2050 EU targets. Today most flexibility is provided by hydropower and fossil thermal generation. Together with interconnection and demand side management, energy storage needs to provide that flexibility. Within this context, Alpiq is committed to contribute to the energy transition by strengthening and expanding its flexible asset portfolio, with ambitious targets to invest, operate and optimize energy storage.

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