Sodium ion battery storage Spain

What is Spain's battery storage market?

Spain’s battery storage market is dominated by customer-sited systems. Utility-scale storage remains nascent. Currently, Spain’s storage market is mainly composed of small-scale batteries co-located with solar PV. Spain’s household electricity prices now stand at over EUR 0.30/kWh on average.

Can battery storage systems be retrofitted in Spain?

The first solution is battery storage systems that enable peak shift, i.e. feeding electricity into the grid at times when the wholesale price is higher, usually before and after sunset. Fortunately, the retrofitting of battery storage systems in Spain is unproblematic from a regulatory perspective.

Why are battery storage options more suitable in Spain?

As a result, shorter duration storage options like batteries are more suitable in Spain. In Spain, over 50% of excess renewable energy occurs in periods where there is continuous excess for less than 12 hours i.e. a battery that chooses to charge on this energy would be able to discharge within 12 hours.

Are batteries a part of Spain's future energy system?

But now batteries have been acknowledged as in important part of Spain’s future energy system. According to the strategy, the government wants to add large-scale batteries in the electricity system, for behind-the-meter batteries a minimum value of 400 MW for 2030 is included and vehicle-to-grid technologies should be advanced.

What is a sodium ion battery?

Sodium-ion batteries use sodium ions (Na+) instead of lithium ions (Li+). Sodium, abundant in nature, is an alkaline metal found in sea salt and the earth's crust. Although they have been studied since the 1980s, their potential for energy storage was rediscovered in the 21st century.

Will Spain reach 30 GW of energy storage by 2050?

Last week, the Spanish government approved the energy storage strategy, targeting some 20 GW of storage capacity in 2030 and reaching 30 GW by 2050 from today’s 8.3 GW.