The market for bundled battery storage is currently on the rise, says Francisco del Rio de Pablo of NTR. Speaking on a panel at Solar Media’s Renewable Energy Revenue Summit 2024he said he foresees the market “growing very rapidly and enormously across Europe.” At the moment, he added, Britain is the most advanced market.
There is a growing demand for energy storage in Europe, but regulatory barriers and incentives are needed to overcome these. Long-term investment scenarios and certainty of income are crucial.
For Rosalind Smith-Maxwell, director of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, nascent is an interesting term.
“In 2010, renewable energy was a percentage of Britain’s energy, and now we are at around 50%. The penetration of renewables creates volatility, which creates opportunities for batteries.”
So far, she added, regulations have largely kept pace with market developments.
“We’re trying to push regulators to make changes that enable more opportunities, and I think that’s because we’re moving at a very fast pace. The power mix is changing without much certainty about what it will change.”
Return on investment (ROI) is maximized by calculating expected revenue, and revenue forecasting is essential for making investment decisions. According to Chema Zabala, director of Alantra Energy Transition, we need to consider different approaches to the generation mix.
Smith-Maxwell said: “A key part of how we try to preserve value and maximize asset value is when to use it, because if you buy a battery you might get 10,000 cycles, and it’s really up to you will die if you use those 10,000 cycles.”
Ultimately, it’s important to look beyond the value of the project and the immediate payments and ask when the most valuable cycle for this asset will be. You need to look at the forecast analytics and forecast volatility and consider when to start deploying new battery cycles to maximize ROI.
