According to new data from trade body UNEF, Spain reached 1.823 MWh of cumulative storage capacity at the end of December 2023.
Image: Suministros Orduña
According to data from Spanish solar energy association UNEF, around 495 MWh of behind-the-meter storage capacity was installed in Spain in 2023, with residential installations accounting for around three-quarters of the total.
With these new additions, the country reached 1.823 MWh of cumulative storage capacity at the end of December
These figures, according to UNEF, show that the storage business is gaining traction in the Spanish renewable energy market.
“At UNEF we consider it essential to continue working hand in hand with companies and public institutions to draw up an adequate strategy that will allow us the definitive boost that behind-the-meter storage needs,” said José Donoso, general director of UNEF. “We have to continue working on the creation of schemes of financing that allow this type of facilities to be made more competitive, such as VAT exemption or tax deductions."
Donoso added that in the coming years, batteries could have the same importance as solar panels themselves.
UNEF said that the bankability of battery storage projects has been affected by a significant decline in electricity prices on the Spanish spot market, which also slowed down the distributed-generation solar business across the country.
"Batteries are usually installed with rooftop PV systems,” the association said.
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Around 20 gigawatts of power between projects completed, under construction and planned
Spain, with 20,074 megawatts, and Germany (16,431 megawatts), account for most of the energy storage systems in Europe measured by capacity. Both countries are also leaders in the number of energy storage-related projects, with 128 and 169 respectively, although they are exceeded by Portugal if this value is measured by energy capacity.
The data were taken from a study presented by the European Commission''s Energy Transition Expertise Centre. Prepared by Trinomics, Fraunhofer IIS and TNO, the report analyses the current situation and potential development of energy storage technologies in Europe to 2030. It includes a great number of storage technologies with projects at different levels of development.
Significant growthInstalled capacity in stationary batteries in the European energy storage market has grown significantly in recent years from 0.6 GW/hour in 2015 to around 9.4 GW/hour in 2022. In fact, capacity doubled from 2021 to 2022. Last year around 30% of the market was residential storage, compared to 2% in commercial and industrial storage, and around 70% of installations corresponding to meters.
With an expanding market, Spain, Germany, Ireland and Greece account for the majority of projects, both new projects under construction and operating projects. The report highlights six of the 128 Spanish projects in Teruel, Zaragoza, Valencia, Girona, Granada and Seville, which total over 7,500 MW of power. Spain expects to achieve 20 GW of installed capacity in 2030 and 30 GW by 2050 according to the report.
Solar power plantsA feature of the numerous thermal energy storage (TES) technologies and uses available are domestic hot water installations powered by solar thermal energy. Spain is the leader in molten salt energy storage at solar power plants, with a capacity of around 6.8 GW.
Finally, the study notes that storage technologies are already yielding profits for some uses in certain markets. This attractiveness will predictably rise in the future due to lower costs, technological improvements that will give a longer useful life for equipment and greater flexibility in a market in need of renewable energy sources.
Update 19 February 2021: Yann Dumont, president of the Spanish Energy Storage Association (ASEALEN), said publication of the strategy is already contributing to the take-off of the storage sector in Spain. “This document publicly presents the importance of energy storage in our country and shows several clear paths and courses of action to address it.” Dumont, who is also CEO of renewables consulting firm Reolum, welcomed how the strategy aims to address good governance in environmental, social, and research and innovation areas, adding: “The document serves as a knowledge base for anyone who wants to approach this sector, describing technologies, challenges, barriers and risks.”
Spain’s government has approved an energy storage strategy that it says will put the country “at the forefront” of what is being done in Europe and help it move towards its 2050 climate neutrality target.
The strategy includes policies to remove administrative barriers to facilitate new projects, the promotion of green hydrogen, the creation of new business models to support areas such as the second life of batteries as well as new researchand development efforts.
Ecological Transition Minister, Teresa Ribera, said storage “allows the perfect integration” of renewables in the system, adding that“Spain is an energetic island, which compels us to have to go ahead to fulfil our commitment to climate neutrality.”
Noting the potential for batteries in self-consumption systems for homes and businesses, the strategy targets the deployment of 400MW of behind-the-meter battery storage by 2030. The government said the deployment of batteries on a large-scale by paring with renewable projects is also “relevant”. The strategy includes efforts to boost thermal storage deployment, renewable hydrogen and pumped hydro plants.
The roadmap follows the recent publication of Spain’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC), which foresees the staggered introduction of battery storage installations into the system to maximise the capacity of non-dispatchable renewable technologies. It is hoped these batteries will have a capacity equivalent to approximately 2.5GW by 2030.
While participants in Spain’s renewable energy auction last month were permitted to include bids with energy storage, the technology didn’t feature. According to consultancy Clean Horizon, this was in part due to a short timeline to submit bids as well as a condition that winning storage plants would be limited to charging from the renewable project they are paired with, excluding the possibility of charging from the grid.
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