Many different narratives, often mixing professional arguments with political intentions, have appeared in the press about the major power outage in Spain and Portugal at the end of April. The latest, which has not been confirmed by reliable sources, is about a failed controlled experiment which was investigating how and by pushing which boundaries it would be possible to achieve a transition to exclusively renewable energy sources, allegedly in preparation for the phasing out of nuclear reactors in Spain starting in 2027.
Despite the many conflicting reports, I do not believe that uncovering the real reasons is a futile endeavor. On the contrary, I believe that in a problem of this magnitude, the most important thing is to investigate the causes and arrive at a conclusion that leaves no room for doubt: the key is to find out how we can avoid similarly destructive situations in terms of scale and impact in the future. Two recent developments have added further pieces to the puzzle: one revealed the starting point of the systemic collapse in southern Spain, while the other showed that the total economic damage to Spain, estimated at €1.6 billion in the first few days, actually amounted to €400 million. A full analysis could take months, but lessons can already be drawn from the case. However, these include not only the dynamics of public panic and the rapid service restoration capabilities of the interconnected European network. I also include what the blackout on the Iberian Peninsula made clear to every European country: it is no longer worth postponing certain particularly expensive investments, but in return we can eliminate large, sensitive and systemic risks from the equation.
It has been clear to experts for at least a decade that the decarbonization of the electricity sector requires a different kind of network. Nor is it news that network developments should not be measured solely in terms of transmission towers and tons of cable in the future. Those days are over, and now is the time to implement the necessary changes more quickly and dynamically than before. I see this reflected in the focus of the Jedlik Ányos Energy Program, but also in the fact that last year, for the 14th time, a new record was set in Europe for the size of newly installed battery energy storage systems in a single year (21.9 GWh). Solar Power Europe's latest report, “Outlook for Battery Storage 2025-2029,” states that by 2025, the EU is likely to see an additional 30 GWh of battery energy storage capacity added to the existing 61 GWh, and that at this rate, the EU will be able to scale up its capacity to 335 GWh by 2029. This means that storage capacity will increase fivefold in five years! Of course, one could argue that this forecast is less than half of the volume predicted in the “Mission Solar 2040” study published a year ago (780 GWh), but the lesson to be learned from the Spanish-Portuguese case is that EU ambitions can change quickly, even if forced to do so.
Instead of a war of numbers, it would be better to focus on dramatically increasing energy storage capacity in Hungary, and doing so quickly. The further increase promised after the 500 MW promised for next year cannot be covered by new investments in solar power plant/energy storage combo projects. To achieve these goals, the focus of development and investment must once again be placed on the existing industrial and public utility solar park infrastructure, which already has an installed capacity of more than 4,000 megawatts. Direct investment support and other economic incentives for supplementing existing solar power plants with local energy storage facilities, including the use of the voluntary carbon market, will become particularly important.
In this way, energy storage investments to be built alongside existing green electricity generation infrastructure will enable us to accelerate the decarbonization of the energy sector, while also making the grid more secure, future-proof, and stable. Another major advantage is that additional investments in connected battery energy storage systems can make solar power plants that have been in operation for some time eligible for the voluntary carbon market. As a result, the green energy they produce and store in newly built storage facilities, which is then released at the right time, can generate additional revenue for investors on the carbon market through carbon arbitrage, further accelerating the green transition by improving the income-generating capacity of renewable energy investors. I believe that this will be the real solution to prevent system-wide outages similar to those in Spain!
This article was first published on the 27th May, by Levente Tóth, CEO of mitigia, on their personal LinkedIn profile.
Cover picture: Nico Smit, Unsplash
