In the medium-term the expansion target set by the Federal Government for the expansion of renewables could come under threat as there are not enough energy storage facilities, writes the newspaper Welt referring to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
According BCG, wind power and photovoltaics contributed one fifth to the installed overall capacity in Germany in 2008. By 2025 their share will more than double to 44%. To account for the fluctuation, balancing power in the amount of up to 28 GWwill be needed. As yet, energy storage capacities, mainly provided by pumped-storage power plants, amounted to only 7 GW. Hence, capacities had to quadruple.
Welt quotes BCG partner Holger Rubel as saying that investments in energy storage facilities were currently not cost-effective. Hence, incentives and subsidies were necessary, either in the form of investment aid or guaranteed feed-in tariffs and premiums for stored energy. He warned that the possibilities of storing energy in battery of electric cars were overestimated and Norwegian pumped-storage hydropower was not a panacea.
RWE AG, Germany’s second-biggest utility, had also recognised the problem, Welt points out. According to its own estimates, 2820 GWh from energy storage facilities had to be provided in 2030, in case basically no wind power was generated due to a calm lasting for a week. This is 70times the amount the existing pumped-storage power plants in Germany can provide.
Source: Welt-Online
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