Energy Storage Ireland is delighted to publish our Quarter 2 Policy Update for 2020. It has been quite a busy quarter following the launch of ESI as we seek to grow the visibility of the brand, take on new members and engage with policy makers on a variety of topics including DS3 System Services contracting, network charging, stakeholder engagement plans and future renewable policy.
It has been a very successful few months in this regard as we welcomed a number of new members onto the ESI Committee. These are
We have also been very active in responding to consultations and engaging with policy makers to drive some of our key policy requests for the next few years.
Probably the most important consideration for the energy storage project pipeline at present is DS3 System Services procurement and the impacts of Covid-19 on project development timelines. This has caused a lot of uncertainty and additional risks for projects that are attempting to meet tight testing and commission timelines in order to secure DS3 contracts. ESI has been engaging with EirGrid/SONI on this matter and we are hopeful that a solution can be reached that mitigates some of this risk for new build assets.
Looking towards the 70% RES-E target by 2030, focus also turns to the development of the enduring DS3 procurement arrangements, with a regulatory consultation expected to be published in the coming weeks. ESI has formed a DS3 market design working group to develop proposals for this enduring framework and engage with policy makers such as the Regulators and System Operators. Baringa’s Store, Respond and Save report has shown the substantial benefits that zero-carbon System Services can provide to the system. We will be pushing to ensure that the enduring procurement arrangements continue to facilitate investment in low carbon service providers such as energy storage.
One other very important update and a big win for the industry is that the CRU’s recently published ECP-2 decision provides a route to a grid connection for storage projects and other System Service technologies for the next three years. The CRU’s proposed decision would have effectively excluded storage for much of the ECP-2 batch process, so it is very welcome that the CRU responded to these concerns and has increased the number of offers per batch which should allow for storage projects to obtain connections going forward. We have provided a detailed summary of the ECP-2 decision in this policy update.
Another big step for the storage industry is the CRU’s recently announced consultation on removing the issue of double-charging of network tariffs for storage. This is something we have been highlighting as a significant barrier to entry into the market and so it is very positive that this is being addressed. ESI will be submitting a response to this consultation in due course.
Finally, it is particularly exciting to see the go-live of Ireland’s first battery storage project which is now in operation and providing valuable services to the grid. This is a great milestone for the storage industry and hopefully we will see plenty more projects being delivered in the coming years!
The full policy update is available to members to download on our members’ section. If you would like to learn more about our work or enquire about membership please contact us as info@energystorageireland.com