en.Wedoany.com Reported - The European Commission recently announced that a tripartite agreement has been formally reached, aiming to accelerate the implementation of energy storage projects over the next two years. The Commission stated that this first-ever tripartite agreement will create a favorable business environment for the large-scale deployment of energy storage in Europe, helping to reduce power system costs, stabilize energy prices, and send a signal to the market to strengthen local manufacturing capabilities.
According to the European Commission, 22 of the 27 member states have committed to adding 30 to 35 GW of new energy storage capacity over the next two years. However, the official document of the "Tripartite Agreement on Energy Storage" shows that this target is 45 GW. It is estimated that the EU will need approximately 200 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030, but as of the beginning of this year, only about 55 GW has been deployed.
Under the agreement, energy storage developers are required to report annual estimates of new project capacity, and energy-intensive industries have also committed to deploying storage facilities within their factory premises. Member states have pledged to remove barriers hindering the development of energy storage, with some countries providing financial support for storage deployment and related manufacturing through national and EU-level funds. The European Commission will assist member states in formulating funding programs to support the development of energy storage and the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries.
The goals set by the agreement include improving the integration capacity of renewable energy, reducing curtailment, and lowering electricity prices. Specifically, it aims to reduce natural gas demand and enable energy storage to meet 10% of peak electricity load demand, up from 5% in 2025. The agreement also proposes increasing the scale of energy storage-related Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) from 1.5 GW in 2026 to 4.5 GW in 2028.
In the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector, the target is to increase industrial thermal storage capacity from 0.5 GWh in 2026 to 1.5 GWh in 2028, and battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity from 9 GWh to 24 GWh. However, it remains unclear whether these targets are significantly higher than the originally expected natural deployment scale.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) stated that it will extend its €1.5 billion grid manufacturing support program to the European energy storage supply chain, providing counter-guarantees for energy storage component manufacturers and supporting the research, development, and production of EU energy storage technologies through various equity and debt instruments.
Alexander Rangelov, CEO of Bulgarian battery energy storage manufacturer IPS, signed the agreement alongside EU member state energy ministers and EU Commissioner Dan Jørgensen. He commented, "The goals of the agreement are very clear: accelerate the deployment of energy storage in Europe, enhance the security of the power system, and strengthen Europe's autonomous manufacturing capabilities in this strategic field."
