According to estimates, by 2030 the production of alternative energy will increase exponentially. However, much of the success of the energy transition will depend on the ability to implement the infrastructure for the storage...
It was 2018 and by 2023 the capacity to generate electricity through renewable sources such as photovoltaic and wind power had more than doubled globally, and Italy will end 2024 with a new installed capacity from renewable sources equal to 7.5 gigawatts, a record for our country, which far exceeds last year's 5.7 gigawatts, as recently emphasised by Francesco Del Pizzo, strategic director of network development and dispatching at Terna.
All this in a scenario that identifies 2030 as a fundamental stage in the global energy transition process and in which Italy will have to significantly increase its energy production capacity from renewable sources, both to reduce its CO2 emissions and comply with European environmental commitments, and to reduce its dependence on foreign gas and oil, which are essential for sustainability and national energy security.
The latest data released by RSE (Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico), the company indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance engaged in analysis, study and applied research to the entire energy sector, show that by 2030 the hydroelectric, solar and wind sectors will have to grow by 63% and that renewables for thermal uses and for transport will have to grow by 38% and 40% respectively. Estimates for the adoption of the Green Deal indicate that 26 new GW of plants from programmable renewable sources and 83 GW from non-programmable renewable sources (mainly wind and solar) will have to be installed. In fact, over the next eight years, 12.3 GW of wind power will need to be installed, 3.2 of which offshore, and almost 30 GW of new solar photovoltaic systems. These quantitative targets will need to be even more ambitious if the European climate package Fit for 55 is taken into account, which requires further acceleration. The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2040 it will be necessary to add or upgrade at least 80 million kilometres of networks, doubling annual investments to around 600 billion dollars. Without this expansion, there is a risk of grid congestion and reductions in the use of renewables, with an estimated loss of production, again by 2040, of 310 TWh.
In the face of all this, however, there is a fundamental problem which, if not addressed and resolved, could represent a significant obstacle to the growth of the sector. It's about storage, that is, the ability to accumulate and conserve energy produced and not immediately used, which means that the extra energy produced isn't wasted, by feeding it into the grid at a later time, and obviously also reduces costs. A real necessity, given that in order for the electricity grid to function correctly, and to feed energy into it when wind, sun or water are not sufficient, it is essential to have a strategic reserve.
The problem with non-programmable renewable sources, from solar to wind power, including geothermal and hydroelectric, lies precisely in the variability of energy production, which depends on weather conditions. Solar energy, for example, is only available during the day and can be influenced by bad weather or the presence or absence of clouds, while wind energy depends on the presence of wind and as such requires generators that can quickly compensate for this variation. Storage systems allow the energy produced to be stored when demand is low and used when demand is higher. One of the essential conditions, therefore, for the entire energy architecture based on renewables to work, is the creation of an infrastructure with adequate storage capacity.
Currently, the most suitable technology for large plants is hydroelectric storage, which involves pumping water during hours of abundant energy production and then releasing it when demand increases, a system that is however influenced by drought and climate change. But today storage also takes place using other technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries (BESS) or hydrogen, produced through electrolysis, which becomes the necessary precursor for the production of low-carbon chemical molecules through which it is possible to chemically store the electricity produced from renewable sources.
The most dynamic Italian developers, such as Argo Renewables, Greentech, Kenergia, Limes Renewable Energy, just to name a few, and the big players in the market, from Enel to Terna and A2A, are joining forces on the need to accelerate and build renewable energy storage systems in our country as quickly as possible.
Next summer will be an important stage, as this is the deadline for the auctions for the allocation of storage capacity. On 10 October 2020, the Minister for the Environment and Energy Security approved the rules of the mechanism for the procurement of new storage capacity (Macse), defined by Terna on the basis of Legislative Decree 210 of 2021 and Authority Resolution 247/23, a mechanism previously approved by the European Commission. In particular, the decree approves the proposed regulation of the mechanism transmitted by Terna with regard to the forward procurement of new storage capacity related to lithium-ion batteries and electrical storage technologies other than lithium-ion batteries and hydroelectric storage.
This is certainly an important step in the implementation of renewables, however, we also need to speed up the process of dealing with the bureaucracy and the uncertain and sometimes contradictory regulations that fuel a climate of conflict between central and local administrations. The process for obtaining authorisations for new storage facilities is, in fact, long and complex, introduced with the Agriculture Decree and then with the Suitable Areas Decree, which must now be implemented by the regions: delays in authorisations and the fragmentation of regulations between the State and the regions make it difficult to plan and implement projects quickly. With the decree of the Minister of Economic Development of 27 January 2022, the government has allocated around one billion euros to support the development of storage solutions, aiming to increase storage capacity to 6 GWh by 2030. But, according to the 2023 Greenpeace Report, Italy is still far from reaching the storage capacity objectives set out in the National Energy Strategy and risks not fully exploiting the potential of renewables. This is also in consideration of elements that go beyond national borders, such as the geopolitical difficulties linked to the supply chain for essential materials such as copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths, which come from geopolitically complex countries such as China, Congo and Indonesia, and are fundamental for the construction of solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. The challenge is great, but the success (or failure) of our country's energy transition in the coming years will depend on our ability to respond to these difficulties.