News item | 07-06-2023 | 3:30 pm
The storage of energy is becoming increasingly important as we use more sustainable energy in the Netherlands. Not only the storage of electricity, but also of molecules (for example gas and hydrogen) and heat. These three forms of energy will be necessary to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility in an energy system with more variable energy sources, such as solar and wind. Today, the Energy Storage Roadmap will be shared with the House of Representatives, containing the most important steps to increase energy storage in the Netherlands.
Storing energy offers a number of major benefits to the energy system. When more sustainable energy is produced than necessary, for example with solar and wind energy, it can be stored for periods when this is much less. Another advantage is that the electricity grid is relieved because not all generated electricity has to be fed into the grid at once. In addition, storage can provide strategic stocks and security of supply.
Minister Robert Jetten: “It is difficult to predict exactly how much storage we need. But we do know that energy storage is becoming crucial in our energy system. With the National Energy System Plan we try to get as clear a picture as possible of the demand for the different types of energy. For example, how much electricity will be needed for industry, or how much of which energy source will the built environment use for heat supply. With the Energy Storage Roadmap, we map out the expected developments in the Netherlands and what actions are needed to promote storage, in the short and long term.”
It has been decided to reserve € 416.6 million with the Spring Memorandum for the obligation of storage at solar parks. Because we expect that a considerable amount of battery capacity will be required in the future, we are working with national grid operator TenneT to determine exactly where these batteries should be placed. We also look at how storage is possible in regions, neighborhoods and households. New applications and techniques are also being researched, including innovative techniques with longer storage times – for example Compressed Air (CAES), Liquefied Air (LAES) and flow batteries. € 403.8 million has been reserved in the Spring Memorandum for the smart connection of electric cars to the grid, whereby you make double use of the battery (for driving and supporting the grid), on top of the amount for the obligation of storage at solar parks .
For molecular storage (including gas and hydrogen), EZK will, among other things, draw up a long-term vision for gas storage with IenW, formulate policy for new forms of underground energy storage, explore how financial security for storage in salt caverns can be guaranteed, and develop a pilot for hydrogen storage in gas fields. With the spring memorandum, € 125 million has been reserved to cover the financial risks of large-scale hydrogen storage. This amount can be doubled for additional caverns if needed. We expect that much of the existing infrastructure can be reused for aboveground molecule storage.
Heat storage is an important addition to other storage techniques. It plays an important role in the heat peak demand in winter and can be used, for example, to convert excess electricity into heat. To achieve sufficient capacity and to make heat storage more accessible to end users, innovations and further upscaling are needed. To increase awareness of the benefits of heat storage, EZK and RVO are providing further information to municipalities (especially for seasonal storage) and industry (especially for short-term storage).