EEGI + Grid+: The first mapping of European energy storage projects

The European Electricity Grid Initiative (EEGI) has released a report, undertaken by the Grid+ project, on energy storage progress in Europe, mapping 391 national and European storage research projects in fourteen European countries, equalling approx. €1 billion of investment. The report confirms that storage is not yet a mature technology and looks at why most efforts are focused on research rather than development or demonstration. Several findings from the report can be highlighted:

• Most on-going research projects are located on the distribution network level
• Electro-chemical storage, power-to-gas storage and thermal storage are the most actively investigated technologies
• European funding is a real driving force for energy storage research, with 25 percent of the funding coming from the EU, compared to an average of 5-10 percent for other research areas.

> Grid+ & EEGI – Energy Storage report

The EEGI is one of the European Industrial Initiatives under the Strategic Energy Technologies Plan and proposes a 9-year European research, development and demonstration (RD&D) programme to accelerate innovation and the development of the electricity networks of the future. The Grid+ project (http://www.gridplus.eu) – a team of top level research centres, SMEs, universities, and the European associations for system transmission and distribution – system operators for electricity ENTSO-E and EDSO – supporting the EEGI work, updating the roadmap, mapping, monitoring and measuring smart grid projects, supporting replication and scaling up, interaction and knowledge sharing.