Further investment commitments to accelerate Dutch Energy Storage Growth?

I recently had the pleasure of spending a couple of days with several clients and contacts across Netherlands (Dutch trains are much more efficient and convenient than UK ones!). Here at Hyperion we have worked with numerous Dutch clients, across battery innovation, Energy Storage, Solar, and EV Infrastructure & E-Mobility. We love the Dutch working style, direct communication, and passion for innovation!

One of my key takeaways from that particular trip was how much ambition there is from technology providers to further enhance electrification of energy and power through the deployment of renewable generation and Energy Storage. 

In most segments of the market, the technology is there and ready to go but for some time there have been numerous external issues holding this back, regulatory challenges, lack of public subsidies, access to talent (where we help!), and congestion due to ageing grid infrastructure (like many other countries). This has resulted in a rather slow move into the utility-scale generation and storage market compared to other countries, however there has been a growing rise in Commercial and Industrial and Residential segments. 

One of the fundamental challenges is around making the grid fit for purpose i.e. upgrades to enable more connected assets that can offer the range of services (such as flexibility) that other markets in Europe and UK are benefitting from. However, such infrastructure developments come at a high cost!

Therefore, this latest announcement from the departing Government in Netherlands is very welcome, with significant financial subsidies on offer to enhance co-located renewables and storage projects. This could be aided by Dutch utility Tennet who are rumoured to be looking at a sale of their German grid network to the German government (expected to be over €20Bn transaction) with a significant portion of this expected to be reinvested in Dutch grid upgrades.

This news comes on the back of last year's regulatory changes including removal of double taxation rules and enabling grid connection sharing for ESS assets. It's been pleasing to see positive project developments from major players like GIGA Storage and SemperPower.

Clearly the Netherlands has been playing catch up and there's a long way to go, but news like this provides great encouragement for future ESS deployments!

I lead Energy Storage at Hyperion, and help storage clients to recruit top commercial, technical, operational, and financial talent. We support developers and technology providers to find the very best talent available, whether that is local or international talent. Interested in learning more, contact me at david.beeston@hyperionsearch.com