While international attention has been riveted to the European Union’s existential woes, the business of the European Commission has continued to roll on quietly in the background. For the last two years, the Commission has been putting together plans for a New Energy Market Design which would adapt current regulations to encourage more efficient electricity trading between countries.

Since the Commission began this process, energy storage has seen its profile soar, and now the European Parliament’s Committee for Industry, Research and Energy have officially recommended a greater role for storage in the finalised EU package.

The list of recommendations flagged the problem of energy storage falling through regulatory cracks, and suggested that storage be clearly defined as its own asset category, on the same level as generation, grid operation and consumption. It also ‘recommends that Member States give consideration to the regulatory framework encouraging end-users to turn to self-production and local energy storage’.

The committee’s recommendations have been officially adopted in the European Parliament, and can be expected to be reflected in the framework when it is released in December.