COVID-19 had the biggest effect on the behind-the-metre energy storage market last year while grid-scale projects proved resilient during the lockdown.
The residential, and commercial and industrial sectors felt the impact of the national lockdowns in Europe harder due to the halt of onsite installations.
The update was reported in the fifth edition of the ‘European Market Monitor on Energy Storage (EMMES)’ published by the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) and research and consulting firm Delta-EE.
The report predicts Europe’s energy storage market will reach 3GWh this year, almost double the annual storage deployments last year. It also suggests 2021 looks particularly strong for the sector with new ancillary services opening across Europe and national targets further supporting regional projects.
The report highlights the strong performance of the front-of-meter market across Europe in 2020, with new balancing and ancillary services in countries such as Italy, the UK and the Nordic region, supporting demand for grid-level storage projects of increasing duration.
Patrick Clerens, EASE secretary general, said: “The excellent 2021 storage outlook is a testament to the importance of a supportive policy and market framework for storage: the implementation of the Clean Energy Package is opening up new markets around Europe and improving the business case for storage. Policymakers’ strong commitment to the EU Green Deal and a ‘green’ COVID-19 recovery is hugely promising for the storage sector.”
Jon Ferris, head of energy storage and flexibility at Delta-EE added: “Last year’s report showed stalled market growth, particularly for the front-of-meter sector, so the fact that it rebounded in the midst of the pandemic is remarkable.
“We are anticipating growth in the sector will accelerate as improved access to markets, particularly for behind-the-meter storage, and the increasing ability for batteries to stack value from multiple markets, add to government support from ‘green recovery’ packages.”
The EMMES examines the European energy storage market— by market segment (front-of-meter, C&I, residential) and country— covering France, Italy, Germany, the UK and other European regional markets.
