Welcome on Board APREN

The European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) is glad to extend a warm welcome to its newest member APREN (The Portuguese Renewable Energies Association) which joined EASE in January 2021. Mr Amaral Jorge, president of the APREN board, accepted to discuss with us about the expertise of APREN, in energy storage and expectations from this collaboration with EASE.

We are really very happy to have APREN 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 APREN for energy storage?

The Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN) is a non-profit association, founded in October 1988. APREN aims to ensure that renewable electricity is developed to lead our members to make renewables the core of a sustainable, secure, and inclusive energy system in order to reach carbon neutrality in Portugal. Of course, this aim includes the enhancement of storage system that can actively contribute to a more reliable and flexible energy system and will play a key role in the future to integrate high-shares of variable renewable, demand-side resources, as well as, to guarantee systems efficiency.

APREN represents more than 90% of all installed electric capacity of renewable energy sources in Portugal.  From this, 2,6 GW are coming from pumped hydro storage, which performs a vital part in the Portuguese electric system, already reaching a 58% incorporation in renewable electricity.

APREN develops its work together with official authorities and other similar entities, either national or international, being a key player in the development of energy policies in Portugal, thereby promoting the deployment of renewable energy resources and storage systems for electricity systems. The Association privileges the coordination and permanent contact with the Portuguese government, the ministries responsible for energy and environmental issues and their official agencies, as well as a fruitful dialogue with the crucial national stakeholders acting in all the electricity sector and also with representatives from the civil society.

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

As mentioned, energy storage will play a major role in our electricity system, helping to enable the increased generation of renewable electricity, and consequently reaching carbon neutrality. For this, it is necessary to create a level playing field with steady economic and regulatory mechanisms that can support the development of new energy storage technologies that are comparable in reliability and cost to pumped hydropower and can be deployed in any site in Portugal.

Improved methods for storing and dispatching electricity are key to maintain a high reliability and security of the electric supply, but also for increasing the economic value of renewables and strengthening competitiveness in the clean energy market. Energy storage deployments can create jobs in supporting sectors such as manufacturing, engineering, construction, transportation and finance, definitely being an important asset in future of energy transition.

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