Battery Energy Storage Systems

Battery storage systems play a key role in achieving climate neutrality, as they enable the integration of renewable energy into electricity grids and are thus increasingly replacing fossil fuels.

• Battery storage systems buffer fluctuations in power generation from renewable sources such as wind and solar energy.
• They ensure grid stability by absorbing surplus electricity and feeding it back into the grid when needed.
• This allows energy generation to be better aligned with demand – a crucial step towards decarbonisation.

• Battery storage enables renewable energy to be used more efficiently and helps to relieve the strain on the electricity grid.
• They reduce the need for fossil fuel-fired reserve power stations.
• In the long term, they help to drastically reduce CO₂ emissions and ensure security of supply within a carbon-neutral energy system.

Lithium-ion battery

• Currently the dominant technology thanks to its high energy density and efficiency (≈ 90–95 %).
• Ideal for short-term storage.

New storage technologies

• Solid-state batteries: enhanced safety, longer service life.
• Redox flow batteries: scalable for long-term storage (up to several days).
• Research into sustainable raw materials to alleviate pressure on critical supply chains.

• The manufacture of batteries still generates CO₂ emissions and environmental impact today due to the extraction of raw materials (lithium, cobalt, nickel).
• Approaches to the circular economy:
  • Reuse of used batteries in stationary storage systems (‘second life’).
  • Recycling of valuable metals.
  • Green production processes (use of green electricity in Gigafactories).

• Battery storage systems are a key and indispensable component of the transition to a climate-neutral energy system in Germany by 2045.
• Regulatory measures:
  • Support for energy storage projects through the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and climate protection programmes.
  • Integration into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
• It is also becoming increasingly important in developing countries for decentralised, sustainable energy supply.

Battery storage systems are essential for the energy transition:

• They enable the full use of renewable energy,
• ensure a reliable supply when feed-in fluctuates,
• and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

They are therefore a key component of a climate-neutral future – but sustainable production, recycling and new technologies remain crucial to realising their full potential.