Enterprise energy transition: why storage technologies are redefining the game dynamics
In the midst of the global energy transition, energy storage solutions are no longer just a green add-on, but mark the interface between energy policy and economic efficiency. As the demand for renewable energy sources increases, particularly with the rise of electric vehicles, the need for storage systems that can anticipate future load developments becomes crucial.
The distinction between storage capacity and discharge performance is crucial. While storage capacity indicates how much energy can be stored, discharge performance determines how quickly this energy is available. In the race to deploy storage systems, focusing solely on cheap solutions may result in missed savings goals due to varying quality levels in the current market.
To avoid such risks, strategic considerations for selecting energy storage systems prioritise understanding system dynamics and emphasising quality rather than solely focusing on price. Here are key aspects to consider:
- Quality Over Price: While cost competitiveness is important, selection criteria also rigorously evaluate grid interconnection, discharge cycles, and operational reliability over long contract terms (15 years) to ensure sustained performance and system stability.
- System Dynamics Understanding: Effective storage solutions must be technically safe, economically feasible, and socially acceptable within broader infrastructure and spatial planning contexts. Institutions like Deltares emphasise integrating knowledge of subsurface, infrastructure, and energy flows to optimise planning, operation, and lifespan extension of energy storage systems.
- Eligibility & Incentives: Storage systems typically need to meet minimum performance metrics and other technical criteria to qualify for supportive incentives, ensuring that only sufficiently capable systems are deployed.
- Long-term Performance Metrics: Auctions and programs often require storage systems to operate at a certain minimum number of full charge-discharge cycles annually and maintain performance over years to avoid premature degradation and to ensure economic viability.
- Site Selection & Grid Integration: Location of Battery Energy Storage Systems impacts grid stability, efficiency, and cost savings. Critical factors include grid access, local demand profiles, and spatial planning considerations to optimise the system's role in the larger energy network.
Investments in under-dimensioned or incorrectly configured storage systems can lead to significant financial burdens, especially with rising peak load tariffs. To avoid such misinvestments, companies should collaborate with partners who understand technical and systemic interrelations.
Modern storage systems can transform photovoltaic plants from feed-in instruments to autonomous energy centers, resulting in more stable consumption profiles and long-term cost advantages. Early investment in powerful, perfectly dimensioned storage systems can provide operational independence and strategically position companies for an energy future where network stability and autonomy become location advantages.
For more information, visit EPP GmbH.
Press contact: EPP GmbH, represented by Ing. Daniel Poelzlbauer, [email protected].
- Understanding system dynamics and emphasizing quality over price is crucial in the selection of energy storage systems, as system stability is essential for ensuring sustained performance.
- The discharge performance of energy storage systems, which determines how quickly energy is available, is just as important as storage capacity in meeting future load developments and maximizing returns on investment.
