TenneT study underlines great potential of battery storage to stabilize the energy system
Battery storage systems are becoming increasingly important for balancing out the weather-related fluctuations in wind and solar power. As the study “Quo Vadis, Großbatteriespeicher?” published by TenneT shows, large-scale storage systems in particular can make a significant contribution to the stability of the energy system. The choice of a suitable location and a system-compatible mode of operation are crucial.
Important findings on location and operation:
The choice of location is of great importance for the effectiveness of large-scale battery storage systems for system stabilization. Key factors include the regional density of battery storage systems, the progress of grid expansion in the respective region and the proximity to renewable energy sources. It is also necessary to use regulatory incentives to promote the grid-friendly operation of battery storage systems. The current orientation towards market signals, i.e. charging when electricity market prices are low and discharging when they are high, can even exacerbate grid bottlenecks.
In the TenneT grid area, large-scale battery storage facilities can contribute to system stabilization in the short term (until 2027), especially in Bavaria, Hesse (excluding Frankfurt) and southern Lower Saxony. These regions offer great potential due to their proximity to solar power generation, especially as there are fewer battery storage requests here than in the north. In Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, on the other hand, accelerated expansion could further exacerbate grid bottlenecks, at least if the storage facilities are exclusively market-driven and not operated to serve the grid.
As grid expansion progresses and renewable energies are increasingly integrated into the energy system, the system-friendly use of battery storage systems will also be possible in more northern regions. In the long term, an even distribution of battery storage across the entire TenneT grid area is optimal in order to fully exploit the potential for system stabilization.
Dynamic growth of battery storage systems:
The current draft scenario framework of the 2037/2045 (2023) Network Development Plan (NDP) forecasts a storage potential of up to 168 gigawatts (GW) in 2045, of which up to 54.5 GW is accounted for by large-scale battery storage systems. In the TenneT grid area alone, there are already connection requests for battery storage with a capacity of 39 GW in 115 projects, and the trend is rising sharply. This underlines the need to create the right framework conditions now in order to make optimum use of the potential of battery storage for system stabilization and combine it with efficient grid planning. The study “Quo Vadis, large-scale battery storage?” is based on data from the TenneT grid area.”
