Council adopts conclusions on fast-tracking the EU electricity grid

Today, EU Energy Ministers adopted conclusions on the EU’s electricity grid infrastructure.

SolarPower Europe has issued the following statement in reaction.

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe (she/her):  

“Today is a key milestone in the energy transition. Energy Ministers have delivered positive proposals on accelerating electricity grid investments in Europe at the transmission and distribution level, for example by calling for regulation that facilitates anticipatory investments, and by asking the European Investment Bank to step up in financing grid upgrades.

While grids are essential for the energy transition, flexibility, encompassing battery storage and demand response, is crucial for enabling grids to quickly adapt as infrastructure catches up. We regret that Ministers did not address the challenges for scaling up battery storage and other flexibility solutions, with the same detail as they did for grid infrastructure. 

Today, there are no financial incentives for solar and battery systems, nor are there incentives for system operators to integrate flexibility when planning grid investments. We are far behind the target of 200GW of battery storage needed by 2030, despite flexibility being the faster and more cost-effective solution to avoid more negative pricing in electricity markets.

We applaud today’s conclusions on grids, but we urge EU leaders to take the next step on clean flexibility, for example by setting political goals for energy storage and demand response for 2030 and 2040. We need to keep flexibility high on the political agenda.”

Notes 

• Flexibility frameworks are a set of measures that provide a price signal to flexibility providers reflecting system stress/needs. 

© European Union, Meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (download here)