SolarPower Europe has revealed plans to establish a dedicated European battery storage platform.
In addition, to mark its fortieth anniversary the trade body has come up with a new tagline “SolarPower Europe: Solar, Storage, and Flexibility”.
SolarPower Europe has also launched two new reports on flexibility, ‘Flexible Buildings, Resilient Grids’ and ‘Embracing the benefits of Hybrid PV systems’, which focus on distributed and utility flexibility respectively.
The announcements came during the two-day SolarPower Summit, held in Brussels.
Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “SolarPower Europe has represented the full European solar value chain for 40 years.
“From 50 MW of solar globally in 1985, to 350 GW alone in the EU last year, we are so proud to be powering the equivalent of 75 million EU households today. Each panel designed, built, and installed is one step forward for our energy security, our competitiveness, and our climate goals.”
EU Commissioner for Affordable Housing and Energy, Dan Jorgensen said: “In today’s challenging context, we are at a defining moment for Europe.
“We need to boost our competitiveness, and bring down energy costs. We need to increase our security, to protect Europe’s place in the world.
“And we need to accelerate decarbonisation, to ensure the future of our planet.
“Our response to these challenges is clear: we need to deliver the full benefits of a true Energy Union.
“An Energy Union that is cheaper, cleaner and more connected.
“To achieve this, I strongly welcome SolarPower Europe’s decisive push to ramp up solar energy in Europe.”
‘Embracing the benefits of Hybrid PV systems’ – which includes solar hybrid projects with storage, wind, or both – estimates that hybrid projects have a 10% lower LCoE compared to standalone projects.
The report modelling also reveals how hybrid projects enhance security of supply by ensuring electricity generation even after sunset.
However, with regards to solar and battery hybrid utility projects specifically, the UK is outstripping the EU, hosting 62% of Europe’s solar-battery projects alone.
Germany only hosts 6% of Europe’s total for comparison.
The suite of SolarPower Europe storage and flexibility reports are set to be included on a new dedicated battery storage platform.
The Battery Storage Europe platform will highlight storage case studies and regulatory best practices across Europe and operate as SolarPower Europe’s external arm of reinforced advocacy work on storage policy at the European-level.