Spanish government approves energy storage strategy

The Spanish government on Tuesday approved the energy storage strategy, targeting some 20 GW of storage capacity in 2030 and reaching 30 GW by 2050 from today’s 8.3 GW.

Storage that is currently available in Spain comes mainly from pumped hydro and concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, to which the government wants to add large-scale batteries, behind-the-metre batteries — minimum 400 MW in 2030 — and make the most of the vehicle-to-grid technology, according to the document.

The strategy defines ten lines of action and 66 measures that address the particulars, such as the share of storage in the energy system, circular economy, energy communities and ways for citizen to participate, promoting renewable hydrogen, development of new business models with the goal of recycling and getting a second life out of batteries, among others, the Spanish ministry for the ecological transition said.

Spain quantified its storage needs in line with decarbonisation targets established in the 2021-2030 national energy and climate plan (NECP), which sets the share of renewables in gross final consumption of energy at 42% by the end of the decade.

To financially support storage projects, Spain intends to count on the wealth of EU funds, among them, the COVID-19 recovery instrument Next Generation EU, Innovation Fund, Horizon 2020, as well as a variety of national funds and possibly green bond proceeds, according to the text of the strategy.