Minister Jetten: Flexibility is the fourth pillar in the future energy system
Last Friday, Minister Jetten sent the parliamentary letter 'Contours National Plan Energy System' to the Lower House. This plan gives a picture of the Dutch energy system in the future. The future energy system is shaped by four pillars in which "developing flexibility and transportation and distribution infrastructure that reliably connects supply and demand." named by the Cabinet as the fourth pillar.
Energy Storage NL is pleased with the attention to flexibility in the outline plan, in which the government chooses a broad definition for flexibility, namely the possibility to let the supply and demand of energy carriers be variable, including demand management, conversion (converting to another energy carrier) and storage.
Network tariffs should not stress flexibility market
The cabinet argues that for the effective development of a flexibility market, it is important that network tariffs do not unnecessarily hinder users from contributing to flexibility. Minister Jetten: "It is up to the joint network operators to make a proposal to change the tariff structure. It is then up to ACM, as an independent regulator, to test and establish this proposal." The cabinet is therefore urging the parties to quickly come up with proposals to review the tariff structure for the network tariffs in order to remove any unnecessary obstacles to a more flexible use of the network.
This call by Minister Jetten aligns with Energy Storage's message to, among other things, revise existing transmission tariffs for energy storage as soon as possible.
Energy storage is broader than just electricity
Whereas energy storage is well included in the cabinet's electricity plans, Energy Storage NL lacks attention to energy storage in the plans surrounding hydrogen and renewable heat. Energy storage will also play a crucial role in the integration of these energy carriers. This can be done by storing excess (sustainable) electricity in order to convert it into hydrogen or heat. Energy Storage NL asks the government to consider the added value of energy storage in a broad context, for electricity, heat and molecules, in order to exploit the functionality of energy storage as a system integrator.
Read the entire House letter here: https://www.tweedekamer.nl/kamerstukken/brieven_regering/detail?id=2022Z11854&did=2022D24377
