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Posted 2 years ago | 2 minute read
Irish government must adopt an energy storage strategy
Energy storage technologies could save Irish consumers €85M a year on electric bills and cut 1M tonnes of carbon emissions, according to a new report.
Currently almost 500MW of energy storage is connected to the all-island electricity system while over 1GW of projects have planning permission. The Game Changer: How Energy Storage is the Key to a Secure, Sustainable, Clean Energy Future in Ireland report, published on 26 May, modelled how the Irish electricity system would operate in 2030 with 2,000MW of energy storage, (1,600MW of that in the Republic of Ireland). It also identified how the approach will cut carbon emissions and reduce electricity prices.
Key findings included:
- By participating in the Irish day-ahead energy market, energy storage can reduce day-ahead carbon emissions by 50% by using long-duration storage technologies. This makes a material contribution to meeting ambitious 2030 power sector decarbonisation goals
- Strategic deployment of energy storage in transmission constrained regions of the network reduces the dispatch-down of renewable generation from constraints without the need for network reinforcement, unlocking additional carbon savings
- By contributing to security of supply, helping to support renewable capacity, and displacing fossil fuels in the balancing market, energy storage can deliver a net saving to end consumers in Ireland of up to €85M per year
- These benefits are additional to the carbon, renewable curtailment, and end consumer savings offered by energy storage through the provision of zero-carbon system services
- Energy storage helps the integration of renewables at all stages by ensuring that generation is not wasted; reducing oversupply by up to 60%, constraint volumes by up to 90%, and curtailment by 100%
Mark Davis, GridBeyond’s Managing Director UK & Ireland said:
“The need to decarbonise our energy supply is already a significant challenge, and one that has been exacerbated since the start of the year. The invasion of Ukraine and demonstration our dependence on imported fossil fuels means Irish electricity consumers have seen significant increases in their bills, with more rises likely on the horizon.
“Energy storage is an essential part of decarbonising our electricity system. It allows us to fully harness our own renewables resources, in turn reducing dependence on energy imports. But to accelerate the delivery of energy storage we need a coordinated strategy from policymakers in Ireland and Northern Ireland to redesign the electricity market to incentivise investors and utilities to replace fossil fuel back-ups with cleaner and cheaper alternatives.”
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