National Action Plan for Energy Storage handed over to minister Jetten
Climate and Energy minister Rob Jetten has today accepted the National Action Plan for Energy Storage from Energy Storage NL (ESNL). This sectoral organisation is a partner of the FME, the Dutch employers’ organisation for the technology industry. With this action plan, ESNL is putting on the agenda the need to accelerate the energy transition by utilising energy storage systems and conversion. The Action Plan contains various proposals to remove barriers for all forms of storage.
The National Action Plan for Energy Storage 2023 contains concrete points with which policymakers can get down to work. It outlines a picture of the sustainable energy system of the future, in which sustainable energy storage in electricity, molecules or heat for instance offers the required flexibility to ultimately eliminate the need to use fossil fuels. The proposals explore various challenges, including the lack of a legal status for energy storage, the absence of rapid licensing processes and the need for live data on the status of the electricity grid. “The realisation is growing that the energy transition will only succeed with energy storage. Energy storage makes our system independent of other countries, delivers lower energy prices and makes fossil-fuel gas and coal power stations redundant. With it we accelerate the energy transition and tackle the energy crisis as well”, says ESNL chairman Maarten van den Heuvel.
Balancing
High energy prices, the growing share of sustainable generation and the burgeoning issue of grid congestion have rapidly made clear the need for energy storage in the Netherlands to be delivered in short order. Storage plays an important part in balancing weather-dependent supply and the demand for sustainable energy. Batteries can for instance contribute to a stable electricity grid, thermal storage can provide homes with heat and sustainable molecules can be stored in large volumes to bridge seasons.
Currently many barriers still remain that hinder the business case for storage. As a result the Netherlands is lagging other European countries. Mr Van den Heuvel: “The government must realise that proactive policy is needed, the fact is that the market cannot solve this without the removal of barriers. With the National Action Plan for Energy Storage, we are making concrete suggestions to the government to jointly deliver the necessary acceleration.”
