According to data provided by BloombergNEF, global storage capacity could reach 92 gigawatts in 2025, which would represent an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. Although China and the US currently lead this market, Europe and Spain are moving forward with public and private initiatives to be at the forefront.
In this scenario, storage is key to the security and quality of supply. In Spain, the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) projects that in 2030, 81% of the electricity mix will be renewable, supported by the installation of 22.5 GW of storage capacity to ensure supply. Furthermore, in February 2021 the Government published its Energy Storage Strategy, where stationary batteries are one of the keys to the flexibility of the electrical system. Added to this is that the Ministry for the Ecological Transition will allocate more than 839 million euros in aid to 143 projects, which will add 2.4 GW to the national system.
Storage with batteries
Storage is consolidated as the essential support for a sustainable and secure energy system. These systems allow renewable energy to be stored to supply it when necessary in times of low production, making the production of renewable energy more flexible and guaranteeing its integration into the system, which in turn poses the challenge of providing it with flexibility tools to balance generation and consumption.
Among the notable companies in this sector is Naturgy, which promotes a storage model based on the circular economy, sustainability and technology, thus reinforcing its position as a benchmark in the Spanish energy transition. The energy company has recently added seven new battery storage projects to its renewable portfolio and is consolidating itself as a leading group in promoting this technology in Spain.
The addition of these new projects brings Naturgy’s battery storage portfolio in Spain to a total of 16 facilities. Some of these plants are already under construction and will begin operating in the first months of this year.
The new projects will be located in the Canary Islands (Puerto del Rosario and Fuerteventura), Castilla y León (San Blas), Castilla-La Mancha (Los Pedreros), Galicia (Troncal and Monte Redondo) and Murcia (Jumilla). These are six hybridization projects of the company’s renewable plants and a stand-alone battery connected directly to the grid and located in Vigo.
Adding the seven new projects awarded in the last auction, Naturgy now has a portfolio of 16 storage facilities with aid between development and construction, with a total power of 260 MW and 689 MWh of storage capacity. The total investment in these projects will be 140 million euros.
The new storage projects promoted have obtained financing of 39 million euros in the first call for aid for innovative energy storage projects co-financed with FEDER 21-27 funds, according to the final resolution proposal published by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). These facilities will add an additional power of 100 MW and a storage capacity of 359 MWh.
Naturgy also has experience in the development of battery storage at an international level. Through Global Power Generation (GPG), the group connected its first global battery storage facility to the Australian grid in 2023, the ACT Battery project. A few months ago, in Australia, Cunderdin, its first large hybrid photovoltaic generation and battery storage project, came into operation, with a solar capacity of 128 MW and a storage system of 55 MW/220 MWh.
Clean energy and environmental education
Coinciding with the location of two of these new energy storage projects in Gran Canaria, specifically BESS El Escobar (Ingenio) and BESS Piletas I (Agüimes), which will reinforce the stability of the island’s electrical system and contribute to progress towards a more sustainable energy model in the Canary Islands, Naturgy Renovables has promoted different information sessions to publicize details of both projects.
These information days are part of the “Open for works” program, initiated by Naturgy in the Canary Islands, with the aim of informing citizens about energy projects in development, resolving doubts, reinforcing transparency and collecting contributions that facilitate responsible integration of new infrastructures in the territory.
During the sessions, organized in collaboration with the city councils of both municipalities, the Naturgy Renovables technical team explained how energy storage systems (BESS) work, their role in the transition towards an eminently renewable model, as well as the safety and environmental sustainability measures implemented.
According to Sergio Auffray, head of Canary Islands Development at Naturgy, “the conferences have helped us listen, explain and advance together with the municipalities in the construction of a more sustainable and participatory energy model. With projects as strategic as these that, thanks to the storage of surplus renewable energy, reduce discharges and help stabilize the island network, also reinforcing the energy autonomy of the Canary Islands, moving towards a 100% renewable model, the objective of the Energy Transition Plan and the Agenda 2030.”