Unleashing Flexibility Needs: How Energy Storage Can Make or Break the Case for Renewables
EASE has prepared a position paper on the Renewable Energy Directive Revision (REDIII) highlighting the great opportunity this review offers in terms of speeding up decarbonisation efforts in the energy system: EASE welcomes the 40% renewable energy targets for 2030, but calls for clearer support for energy storage to step up renewables deployment and ensure security of supply.
EASE believes energy storage can be fostered through RED III in multiple ways. Our key points:
Development of a strategy for energy storage, through a sound methodology assessing flexibility and energy shifting needs;
Definition of co-located storage facility and non-discriminatory treatment in tenders for RES plants;
Support the uptake of RES + storage PPAs and ensure non-discriminatory treatment for the issuing of Guarantees of Origin and green certificates;
Ensure full system integration through the proposed art. 20a;
Include energy storage technologies in the efforts to decarbonise the buildings and transport sectors.
Policymakers need to act quickly in view of the urgent need to decarbonise the European energy system: renewables need to be supported by flexibility technologies and through energy shifting, which only energy storage can provide.
EASE responds to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the European Grids Package, calling for clearer guidance and obligations on flexibility assessments in planning processes. This includes common methodologies, improved DSO-TSO coordination, and enhanced grid connection procedures. Storage should be considered a standard resource for grid services and reflected accordingly in system planning, cost-benefit analyses, and network development scenarios.
The European Commission has recently launched a stakeholder consultation on its upcoming guidance regarding grid connections in situations where capacity constraints exist. In response, EASE urged reforms to tackle stalled “ghost” projects blocking viable energy storage. Key recommendations include a “first-ready, first-served” model, transparent grid data, and more flexible rules to accelerate the clean energy transition.
On 27 May 2025, over 200 participants attended the webinar on the "EASE Guidelines on Safety Best Practices for Battery Energy Storage Systems". The Guidelines are designed to support the safe deployment of outdoor, utility-scale lithium-ion (Li-ion) BESS across Europe.
Energy storage is a key enabler of the European Union’s decarbonisation and energy security objectives, yet current grid fee structures often act as barriers to its deployment. This position paper outlines critical challenges related to network tariffs and charges that create market distortions and discourage much-needed investments in flexibility.
