FRANKFURT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Rapidly growing solar and wind power across Germany and the European Union must be matched by more battery storage to capture weather-induced generation peaks and avoid more fossil fuel burning, energy think tank Ember said on Thursday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The roll-out of carbon-free electricity plants has gathered pace, underscored by the drying up of westbound Russian energy exports since war began in Ukraine.

More renewables bring temporary spurts of unwanted, or sudden lack of, supply, which cannot be fully matched with demand in the absence of enough transport grid and storage capacity.

Zero and negative prices have consequently become more common in intraday wholesale trading hours, with spreads caused by fluctuating feed-in of green power.

The lack of synchronisation means that taxpayers not only pay for green power production subsidies. They also cough up for curtailments and emergency procurement, which gets increasingly hard to defend.

CONTEXT

Policymakers hope that batteries, which can earn revenue from price arbitrage, will offer enough economic reward to attract sufficient investment. They have not drawn up goals for battery capacity. Grid firms' strategy plans assume large-scale expansion.

There are signs from investors that the business case is being recognised.

BY THE NUMBERS

Germany could have avoided up to 2.5 million euros ($2.78 million) in natural gas imports in June alone if it had had 2 gigawatts (GW) more additional battery storage, said Ember.

The Berlin government strongly supports green power.

To ensure stable grids, it has legislated for new hydrogen-ready, gas-to-power plant permits and is discussing an accompanying capacity market to guarantee incomes.

Germany commands 1.8 GW of grid batteries and is looking to add 3.7 GW up to 2027.

KEY QUOTE

Beatrice Petrovich, senior analyst: "More battery storage can help Germany take advantage of abundant home-grown solar to replace expensive fossil fuels.

"We haven't seen the same ambitious strategies from the EU that are in place for renewables ... for battery storage and other clean flexibility solutions."

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/germany-eu-must-match-green-power-roll-out-with-more-batteries-says-ember-2024-09-25/