Energy Storage NL election stakes: storage crucial for sustainable, affordable and stable energy system!
Energy Storage NL sent its election insert to various party committees earlier this week for input into the Lower House election programs later this year. In this election insert, ESNL argues for three things: 1) a national energy storage target, (2) addressing uneven playing field through transmission tariffs and (3) providing clarity on locations, permits and connection conditions.
National energy storage target
The industry association indicates that important steps have been taken around energy storage in the past cabinet period. The Energy Storage Roadmap is given as an example. The coming government period will be dominated by the acceleration of energy storage. To this end, it is important to provide clarity on the desired amount of energy storage toward 2030, especially since our security of supply and the sustainability of our energy supply will largely depend on energy storage. A national energy storage target of at least 20 GW by 2030 is needed, according to ESNL, to provide clarity and speed to the market, financiers, grid operators and governments about the desired amount of energy storage.
Financing energy storage
Meeting the national energy storage goal will require addressing the financeability of energy storage. ESNL sees that several storage technologies face major financial hurdles due to current transmission tariffs. This severely delays and in some cases prevents the rollout of energy storage in the Netherlands. ESNL would like to see the Netherlands adjust transport tariffs for energy storage, joining countries such as Germany, Belgium UK, Italy, France, Ireland and Switzerland that have now implemented an exemption for energy storage in transport tariffs. Structurally, a separate legal status is needed for energy storage, but in order to gain necessary speed now, it is requested that energy storage be placed within the existing "generators" category for up to four years, exempting storage from transmission tariffs.
Optimal preconditions
Finally, it is necessary to create optimal preconditions for the implementation of energy storage, such as designating suitable storage sites, speeding up energy storage permitting, and creating clear connection conditions for energy storage.
ESNL sees the combination of these three points for energy storage as crucial to avoiding huge social costs of a full power grid in the next government term, accelerating the energy transition and securing our national economic growth. ESNL's entire election commitment can be read back below.
