The European Commission today presented a key proposal for changes to the energy market, responding to the need for greater consumer protection against price fluctuations in the electricity market. This will be an extension of existing instruments aimed at enabling a faster take-up of renewables. The Association for Energy Storage (AKU-BAT CZ) particularly appreciates the need to use energy storage complemented by flexible consumption management. This is a key decision that sets out concrete commitments at Member State level, while taking advantage of the fastest solution to allow new technologies to enter the energy market. The European Commission calls on Member States to ensure sufficient investment in low-carbon sources, sufficient storage capacity for renewables and instruments to ensure flexibility. “If these changes are implemented in the Czech Republic, it will be a huge step forward for the energy market,” said Jan Fousek, Executive Director of the Association for Energy Storage AKU-BAT CZ, who is also Chairman of the Board of the Solar Association. Member States should now promote energy storage in their national energy and climate plans, while mapping the need for flexibility in the electricity grid every two years with a view to at least five more years. “We welcome the strengthening of the role of energy storage and flexibility in the grid.
The Czech Republic has been lagging behind Western countries for a long time, as well as Poland and Slovakia, for example. We are already more than 2 years behind in transposition of the flexibility aggregator or storage. The state needs to rectify this as quickly as possible, otherwise the stability of the electricity system will be threatened. We believe that now, hopefully, there will finally be a shift,” explained Jan Fousek. According to AKU-BAT CZ, the introduction of the concept of accumulation into the Energy Act is on the horizon after years of waiting. Energy storage, as well as, for example, the independent flexibility aggregator, is to be anchored in the Czech legal system by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) in the announced so-called Transposition Amendment.
The second serious barrier for storage in the Czech Republic is the impossibility to stabilise the electricity grid with batteries that are connected to a renewable source, if this project is supported by one of the subsidy titles. This is particularly the case with the Modernisation Fund (MoEW/MEF) and the National Renewal Plan (MIT). Here, on the other hand, the European public aid rules are to blame, with parts of the European Commission concerned about possible overcompensation. “We believe that the document published today will put an end to the concerns of part of the Commission about non-compliance with public aid rules (Block Exemption Regulation, GBER) for energy storage sites. Without storage in all its forms, the safe development of a huge amount of renewable energy would not be possible,” added Jan Fousek.
