Energy think tank Ember said on Thursday (26 September) that Germany could save millions in fuel costs with more energy storage capacity.
According to Ember, Germany could have avoided nearly €2.5m in natural gas imports in June this year alone if it had 2GW more battery storage – a 20% increase from current levels – in its energy system. The additional battery capacity could have shifted midday solar power to the evening, displacing 36 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of fossil fuel power.
Energy storage technologies capture electricity generated from intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind at times of high generation to be used for when supply is low.
The think tank stressed that the rollout of energy storage must match the rapid growth of electricity generated from solar and wind technologies in Germany and the EU.
Solar has the largest percentage share of installed capacity in Germany’s electricity system as of 2023 at 33.24%, while wind constitutes the third-largest share with 28.12%, according to Power Technology’s parent company GlobalData.