Powering tomorrow Navigating the energy transition landscape 2024 - Flipbook - Page 14
Energy storage:
New regulations
could accelerate
industry growth
Renewables like wind and solar are
critical to the clean energy transition.
However, harnessing their power can
be a challenge: the sun doesn’t always
shine, the wind doesn’t always blow,
and many regions have transmission
infrastructure with limited available
capacity. Also, in relation to a successful
market ramp-up of clean energy
sources, in particular hydrogen,
sufficient energy storage capability is
crucial, since production and supply will
not always take place simultaneously.
Energy storage o昀昀ers a solution by banking
energy for peak usage, supporting grid
reliability, and providing the means to
e昀昀ectively scale sources. Yet, as demand
grows, operators in key jurisdictions must
navigate an evolving patchwork of regulations,
including in some cases rules that vary for
di昀昀erent types of energy storage.
The European Union (EU), for example, has
no single regulatory framework governing
energy storage and relevant regulatory
frameworks distinguish between the power
sector and other sectors (e.g., natural gas and
hydrogen). Di昀케culties also arise in the United
Kingdom (UK) where the country’s Electricity
Act 1989 requires energy storage to be
classi昀椀ed as “electricity generation”—thereby
compelling most energy storage operators
to obtain an energy generation license. The
United States (U.S.) also lacks consistent
energy storage regulations, with requirements
and classi昀椀cation rules that can vary across
the nation’s Independent System Operators
and Regional Transmission Organizations.
Band 1
Commercial and
Corporate Litigation
Chambers UK, 2023
14
Hogan Lovells | Powering tomorrow: Navigating the energy transition landscape
