COP29 Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge gains support of 58 nations – EQ

In Short : The COP29 Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge aims to accelerate the deployment of energy storage systems and modernize power grids to support the transition to renewable energy. This initiative focuses on enhancing grid resilience, enabling renewable integration, and ensuring energy access. It underscores global cooperation to meet climate targets and secure a sustainable energy future.

In Detail : We, national governments and other stakeholders, including international organisations, financial institutions, philanthropies, private sector entities, and civil society organisations;

Recalling UN General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”; the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and the Paris Agreement;

Acknowledging that, in order to help ensure that the global community meets the Paris Agreement goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C, deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions must be achieved by 2030;

Recalling the outcome of the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement within the UAE Consensus, decision 1/CMA.5 paragraph 28, which calls on Parties to contribute to global efforts, in a nationally determined manner, taking into account the Paris Agreement and different national circumstances, pathways and approaches, including tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030;

Recognising global efforts towards tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, and accelerating renewables and zero- and low-emission technologies, and recognising that to achieve these goals the enablers set out in this pledge have an essential role in ensuring a robust energy storage and grid infrastructure, and the stability, integration and resilience of energy grids, ensuring energy security;

Recognising that energy storage and grid infrastructure are both essential to develop resilient, decarbonised global energy systems, with storage technologies enhancing the ability of grids to integrate variable renewable energy, optimise grid usage, stabilise supply and enhance energy security, with grid expansions and modernisations necessary to maximise the deployment and efficiency of energy storage technologies;

Recognising the need to efficiently manage growing energy demand, including peak loads, and effectively integrate rapidly increasing shares of variable renewable and zero- and low-emission energy generation through means such as deployment of more cost-effective power grid infrastructure and overall grid resilience, efficiency, and flexibility enhancements;

Recognising the findings by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) that batteries and other energy storage technologies can cost-effectively support energy grid reliability in a variety of ways, including (1) smoothing out the variability of renewables, (2) alleviating grid congestion, and (3) providing services, such as voltage and frequency control, as well as greatly enhancing the potential of renewables to contribute to reliable, flexible and highly integrated energy systems that contribute to achieving global net-zero emissions, and that distributed energy resources, such as solar paired with storage, can support decarbonisation, resilience and the electrification of isolated areas;

Recognising that battery costs have come down more than 90% over the last 15 years;

Noting that as electrification and renewable and zero- and low-emission energy generation accelerate, grid development and interconnections will be essential to integrate increased and distributed renewable energy generation;

Highlighting the need for a robust, flexible and modern grid infrastructure to integrate clean energy sources, ensure reliable and resilient power generation, ensure optimal system integration and improve energy security by managing fluctuations in supply and demand;

Noting recent multilateral efforts, including the Group of Seven (G7) recent commitment to a global energy storage target of deploying 1,500 GW of energy storage in the power sector by 2030, representing a more than six-fold increase from 2022 levels;

Acknowledging the gap between current global energy storage capacity forecasts, which estimate an increase to 650 GW by the end of this decade, and the need for a more ambitious scale-up to meet the 1,500 GW target;

Underscoring that interventions to the electricity grid – including implementing grid infrastructure expansion and improvements, incorporating advanced grid technologies, and improving project permitting and planning, taking into account environmental and local perspectives are critical to countries’ ability to deliver needed power while tripling renewable energy in the coming years;

Noting the crucial roles and unique perspectives of women, local communities, Indigenous Peoples and youth in sustainable development and deployment of energy storage solutions and grids, and that actively promoting their full and equitable participation is at the core of climate action;

Noting the importance of leveraging existing international efforts and organizations to advance coordinated international action and to review progress in line with this Pledge;

Commit to a collective goal of deploying 1,500 GW of energy storage in the power sector globally by 2030, more than six times the level of 2022, and to pursue efforts towards this goal, such as through:

1. Establishing policies and enabling regulatory frameworks that facilitate the adoption of energy storage and support meeting the storage target and addressing barriers faced by storage projects, including double taxation;
2. Accounting for energy storage as a necessary component for grid enhancement and resilience and facilitating the integration of energy storage technologies in power grid planning and operations, as well as the role of standalone storage solutions in addressing the needs of local communities especially in remote and island areas;
3. Strengthening the capabilities of countries and regions on planning integrated energy systems to appropriately incorporate different energy storage options at different scales of the energy system, alongside other strategies for grid balancing and stabilisation, as well as frequency stabilisation;
4. Promoting technology development and deployment to increase storage efficiency and reduce storage costs through technology improvements and learning effects, and supporting a broad range of storage technologies, including battery storage, pumped hydro storage, mechanical (such as gravity energy storage), clean and sustainable liquids and gases (including hydrogen for long-term energy storage), and thermal storage systems, to enhance technological diversity and supply chain resilience;
5. Promoting investments in energy storage technologies, including the development and deployment of storage solutions;
6. Encouraging diversified, sustainable, secure and transparent supply chains for materials and components needed for energy storage, especially battery storage, including sustainable and cost-competitive alternative battery chemistries and materials, and promoting resource efficiency and circularity across the entire life cycle of energy and especially battery storage systems;
7. Encouraging consideration of battery design and performance, which in turn could facilitate second-life applications and recycling, as well as grid stability service provision;
8. Strengthening international collaboration in areas essential for market development, standards, sustainable supply chains and delivering finance at scale;
9. Promoting social awareness about the role and benefits of energy storage and increasing education, training and job creation in this field;
10. Promoting the equitable inclusion of women, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and youth in energy storage initiatives, facilitating their active involvement, leadership and access to training opportunities in the sector;
11. Actively engaging and leveraging the capabilities of the private sector and financial institutions, including philanthropies, to accelerate the development and deployment of energy storage technologies.

Commit to a collective goal to enhance grid capacity through a global grid deployment goal of adding or refurbishing 25 million kilometres of grids by 2030, recognising analysis from the IEA on the need to add or refurbish an additional 65 million kilometres by 2040 to align with net-zero emissions by 2050, and working to strengthen the electricity grid infrastructure, such as through:

1. Increasing grid investment: Scaling up considerably grid investments, recalling the analysis that global grid investment needs to nearly double by 2030, to support the transition to clean energy and help achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050;
2. Modernising and expanding infrastructure: Increasing transmission and distribution capacity of existing infrastructure and incorporating grid-enhancing technologies while using batteries strategically to avoid costly and unnecessary grid expansion;
3. Addressing bottlenecks: Developing policies to address planning, financing, regulatory incentives, digitalisation, supply chains, and capacity building to overcome grid investment challenges;
4. Supporting the integration of renewables: Promoting grid infrastructure that can accommodate the increasing volume of renewable and zero- and low-emission energy projects and reduce the backlog of projects waiting to be connected to the grid;
5. Promoting regional integration: Integrating electricity systems at a regional level and between countries to enhance energy security and resilience, improve access to clean electricity, and increase efficiency through economies of scale;
6. Investing in advanced technologies: Increasing investments in High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission to reduce power losses and support the integration of variable renewable and zero- and low-emission energy;
7. Strengthening international cooperation: Partnering with international financial institutions, public and private sector stakeholders, and other relevant stakeholders to address critical bottlenecks, including cross-border interconnections, and build momentum on grid modernisation.
8. Promoting social awareness and skills: Strengthening social awareness about the role and benefits of grids, increasing education, training and job creation in this field.

Together, through this pledge, we are committed to making energy storage and action on electricity grids one of the cornerstones of the global energy system, thereby contributing to combating climate change and advancing towards just and inclusive energy transitions. Furthermore, we aim to review progress towards the implementation of the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge through dedicated meetings, including those convened at future UN Climate Change Conferences, as well as through relevant reports and knowledge-sharing efforts.

We call on other states and stakeholders to join the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge.