Storage needs subsidies in Europe

New and emerging technologies normally need some form of stimulus to encourage and get beyond the early adopters and to bring them into the mainstream. This is especially true in the utility sector, where utilities are bound by regulatory conditions, which may limit their potential to experiment.

Now researchers at the University of East Anglia have suggested in a new study that if renewable energy is to be fully integrated into the sector in Europe, then government subsidies should be used to encourage investment in energy storage systems. Increasing levels of renewables bring increasing potential for volatility, which can be managed with energy storage. But arbitrage alone can’t provide adequate revenue to justify the investment. Continue here...