Statement on the German power plant strategy: We need more long-duration energy storage

On the German power plant strategy: We need more long-duration energy storage

Statement by Jakob Bitner, Co-Founder and CEO VoltStorage

On 5 July 2024, the German government published important key points regarding the power plant strategy, including the expansion of long-duration energy storage facilities to the tune of 0.5 GW to support gas-fired power plants. This is intended to stabilize the energy grid during periods of low sun and wind and to ensure security of supply. However, in view of the medium to long-term goal of carbon neutrality by 2045 and the need to connect significantly more renewable energies to the grid, this appears to be significantly undersized.

0.5 GW corresponds to around 1/8 of the total storage capacity added in Germany last year. If this figure is compared to the planned 10 GW for gas-fired power plants, the dilemma becomes even clearer: instead of creating a technology-open capacity market where the best, most cost-effective and lowest-carbon technologies can prevail, gas-fired power plants will continue to be subsidised for years to come and fossil dependency will be cemented.

Therefore, the strategy is also contrary to the objectives of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). According to the law, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption should increase to at least 80 % by 2030. This means that the output of wind power plants would have to be more than doubled to 145 gigawatts and increased to a total of 230 GW by 2045. In the case of solar energy, the target is 215 GW by 2030 and 400 GW by 2045.

Achieving these ambitious targets will require a significantly larger capacity of long-duration energy storage facilities. These are essential in order to balance out the volatile feed-in from wind and solar energy and ensure a continuous power supply. The expansion target of 0.5 GW that has now been formulated is therefore far from sufficient in view of the challenges and the envisaged expansion rates of renewable energies.

In principle, it is to be welcomed that the power plant strategy that has now been adopted confirms the necessity and potential contribution of long-duration energy storage and that tenders are also explicitly planned for this. On the other hand, it is disappointing to see that it is not open to all technologies and that no universal funding mechanisms have been introduced. However, this would be necessary in order to significantly increase the volume of long-duration energy storage, ensure security of supply even in times of low generation from renewable energies and achieve the goals of the energy transition. Only by massively expanding the storage infrastructure can renewable energies be successfully integrated into the electricity mix and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2045 realistically come within reach.