Energy storage will not be involved in the success of photovoltaics. “overdue help” – EQ Mag Pro

Government subsidies for photovoltaic installations, first launched in 2018, have led to the rapid spread of solar panels on Polish rooftops. 444 thousand zlotys were received in the first three issues of my electricity program, with a total budget of more than 1.8 billion PLN.

Requests of individuals who want to produce electricity from the sun. It is estimated that there are over 866,000 in total in Poland. Small businesses connected to home networks PVBy the end of the year their number may exceed one million.

Representatives of companies specializing in renewable energy sources have long suggested that the subsidy system, which strongly stimulated photovoltaic cells in Poland, also covers energy storage. This year only these appeals were implemented – The fourth edition of the My Electricity program, launched on April 15, allows you to obtain financing not only for the purchase and installation of solar panels, but also, among other things, for energy storage.

The budget for the implementation of the fourth version of the program is 350 million PLN. Consumer (a person who consumes and produces electricity at the same time) for the installation of the warehouse energy It can get up to 7.5 thousand. zloty. However, the magazines’ chances of replicating the amazing success of solar panels are so far slim.

– As an industry, we have been advocating for several years now that energy storage be included in my electricity subsidy program. It only happened this year, and it’s definitely too late. First, we allowed owners of micro-PV installations to bring surplus energy produced into the grid, and it would be difficult to persuade this group of customers to invest in additional energy storage. This year, a new consumer billing system was introduced, but it is still a mechanism that will provide an adequate incentive to store electricity, because the return on such investments with low energy demand will last for many years – explains Krzysztof Kochanowski, Vice President and General Director of the Polish Chamber of Storage Energy (PIME).

The right direction, but there are a lot of challenges

Industry representatives are convinced of the need to activate the subsidy. However, they added that this is only the first step to deploy energy storage in Poland. – at The primary beneficiaries of energy storage subsidies are energy consumers who have high energy consumption, those who can afford it and those who are most conscious. That is why it is so important that subsidies follow a media campaign that demonstrates the benefits of owning such devices. Besides, the budget for the new version of the software is not satisfactory.

It is about 300 million PLN, which – if it were entirely devoted to energy storage – would create only about 46 thousand zlotys. devices. And this is a point in the ocean against the background of the photovoltaic micro-installations that the Poles already have on the roofs of their homes – notes Kochanovsky.

PIME already proposed three years ago that the amount of support for energy storage could reach 15,000. PLN.

According to estimates, at the end of 2020, 27.5 megawatts of capacity was installed in Poland, about 7 thousand household energy storage in battery technology.

– The supply of home energy storage is increasing every year, but the number of purchased devices is still very low. My Current 4.0 can change this, increasing interest among consumers – confirms Cesare Clement, President of the Elimen Group.

The high prices of the devices are still a hindrance to market development, hence the industry struggles to obtain financial aid for households who have their own solar power plants and can store surplus energy produced.

– Energy storage is not a cheap solution. When buying a device with a capacity of about 9 kWh, you need to take into account the cost of about 14 thousand. PLN up to 35,000 PLN and morewithout assembly and additional equipment, such as cables, power meters, inverter, etc., however, a 9 kWh warehouse can provide a power reserve of several hours or even days, depending on the energy consumption of the building and the number of devices needed to ensure The comfort of living of the inhabitants – adds Clement.

Warehouses are a way to relieve the already existing national electricity grid Can’t handle the growing number of green facilities. Their role is to store the excess renewable energy produced in periods of low demand and return it to the grid during periods of peak demand, as well as to stabilize the parameters of the voltage supplied to the grid. However, for investors, energy self-sufficiency is of key importance.

The main motive that encourages consumers to invest in energy storage is the possibility of ensuring energy security and self-sufficiency. This is important for businesses as well as individual consumers. The ability to become independent from energy companies and rely entirely on your own environmental energy sources is a value in itself, leading you to invest in a storage system even when the rate of return is very low. – Clement convinces.

The market requires deeper changes

In order to develop the energy storage market faster, not only subsidies are needed, but also deeper changes in the energy market are needed. According to PIME, it will be beneficial for consumers to provide them with dynamic tariffs Electricityso using different energy rates for individual hours, and in the future even minutes (also in the distribution fee), or not using it at all Reshaping the energy market in such a way that the solar panel owner not only earns from producing energy from his own facility and pays lower electricity bills, but can also earn from stored energy (A market for energy pools will be created).

The liberalization of the energy market and the emergence of resilience services will build investors RES With energy storage without auctions or subsidies. Lack of market solutions is the sin of omission Answering the question to what extent these mechanisms can help the power system solve problems with flexibility and access to the network for new investments – concludes CEO of PIME.

Another issue the industry sees is the lack of proper setup for photovoltaic installers who need training in the installation and maintenance of energy storage.

The new version of My Electricity They are also subsidies for heat storage (up to PLN 5,000) or energy management systems (up to PLN 3,000).

We want consumers to be as independent and independent as possible in managing the energy they produce in their homes. The fourth version of the My Electricity program should therefore create mechanisms that will stimulate an increase in energy consumption by the producers themselves, and at the same time rationalize the entire production process in a way that ensures the stability of the energy network.

Source: moviesonline