A postcard from… Italy
7
Nov
2024
As Europe accelerates its energy transition, energy storage is emerging as a critical piece of the puzzle.
Through a series of interviews, we will explore energy storage business cases from across the EU, demonstrating that these projects are viable, profitable and essential to achieving Europe’s energy security and climate goals. These success stories highlight the importance of streamlining regulations, providing incentives, and creating a supportive framework to allow energy storage to thrive and scale.
By showcasing these examples, we aim to inspire further action from policymakers, emphasising the urgent need for an EU-wide Action Plan on Energy Storage. As echoed by our first interviewee, Francesco Oppici, Co-Founder and CPO of Energy Dome, such an action plan should ensure Member States prioritise energy storage in capacity markets & launch dedicated auctions for energy storage and flexibility solutions without discriminating against specific net-zero technologies.
The technology is ready, the business cases are solid—now it’s time for the policy to catch up.
Hi Francesco, thank you for accepting this interview. Let’s start with your CO2 Battery Project in Ottana can you tell us a bit more about it?
This standard CO2 Battery, currently being built in Ottana, Sardinia, is a long-duration energy storage solution developed by Energy Dome that will supply energy to approximately 14,000 households. The CO2 Battery is already a fully validated and cost-effective system that uses no rare hearth material to store electricity, boasting superior round-trip efficiency (>75%), a lifetime of 30+ years and physical inertia.
Why do you think your project is outstanding?
It’s going to be the first (first-of-a-kind) of a series of identical units using the same technology design, allowing Energy Dome to unlock cost reductions and accelerate the bankability of future units of the modular, standardised CO2 Battery frames. The technology stands out for not relying on rare earths but on sustainable, widely available materials and off-the-shelf components, ensuring long-term reliability and durability. In other words, this is the only technology available today offering the right combination of efficiency, cost, scalability and that’s viable globally. Furthermore, this project stands out as one of the very few long-duration energy storage projects currently under construction in Europe, having also secured funding from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and the European Investment Bank.
What are the main regulatory challenges you’ve faced in your current market, and how have you addressed them?
The main challenges stem from a regulatory environment not equipped for innovation, where regulators struggle to permit new technologies due to a lack of specific regulations. In Italy, procedures are in place to facilitate the permitting of energy storage technologies like lithium (i.e. electrochemical) systems, but these do not extend to newer technologies, thus creating significant barriers for innovative developers. Additionally, Energy Dome has encountered resistance on the offtake side in Europe, where faster project development outpaced the public procurement processes in place, hence preventing Energy Dome’s involvement in key Terna (Italy’s TSO) auctions and significantly reducing future/potential revenues of the project.
Looking at the bright side, instead, what from a regulatory point of view do you think helped the project (if any)?
From a regulatory perspective, Energy Dome benefited significantly from local support, particularly from the Sardinian administration, which facilitated construction permits and grid connection access. Moreover, financial backing from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and the European Investment Bank was crucial in kick-starting the project, highlighting the positive impact of targeted financial support in overcoming regulatory hurdles.
What measure for energy storage should EU policymakers prioritise – if you could only pick one?
EU policymakers should prioritise creating a regulatory environment that does not discriminate by technology. This would allow innovative energy storage solutions to compete fairly with traditional technologies. Specifically, this involves amending existing laws, such as those in Italy, to encompass all types of energy storage solutions, and not limiting public procurement to traditional technologies alone, hence facilitating offtake agreements in the process.
