Europe has seen a jump in the use of commercial-scale electro-chemical systems being deployed this year, signalling a move from pumped hydro-energy storage projects.
Europe leads the way when it comes to energy storage projects, with more than 390 installed and planned projects totalling a combined capacity of 61.7GW this year.
That is more than the collective total capacity of Canada, Mexico and the US, claims Iulia-Lorena Rus, industry analyst at Energy Storage Update Europe.
To date, the ESS market in Europe has been dominated by pumped hydro, accounting for 95% of total storage capacity.
Fortunately for the battery industry things are changing. In the first six months of this year 156 electro-chemical projects were listed in Europe, totaling more than 470 MWh, according to Global Energy Storage Database.
Rus said: “In many instances the requirements (e.g., response time, power capability, energy density, etc.) for energy storage technologies far exceed the performance limits of current energy technology solutions and in some instances also exceed the theoretical limits of a given technology.
“Thus, there is a substantial current and future global demand for hybrid energy solutions or power sources to optimise cost, efficiency, reliability and lifetime whilst meeting the performance requirements of the applications. In this regard many electrochemical energy technologies are expected to play a key role.”
To make the most of this upturn, the Energy Storage Update conference has brought together key members of the industry from policy makers to developers and manufacturers to show how to make the most of the growing market.
The conference will look at how to navigate hurdles such as certain technologies being cost-competitive; a lack of regulatory incentive to implement storage in key markets across Europe; and how to pick the ‘winning’ commercial scale ESS.
For more information on the event in London on November 30 to December 1 click here
