Myths vs. facts: Battery storage

‘Can battery storage systems really secure the base load?’ You hear questions like this more and more often. The myth of the “unreliability” of renewable energy generation and energy storage persists. Many people still assume that battery storage systems only serve as an emergency power solution for emergencies. Battery storage systems are considered unsuitable, especially when it comes to base load supply.

However, this view no longer holds up to reality. Modern storage systems are more powerful than ever and are already playing a central role in a stable, renewable energy supply. Time to dispel the myths and give the facts some space.

Fact check: What battery storage systems can do today

• Rapid response:
  Battery storage systems are able to compensate for grid frequency fluctuations within milliseconds. They therefore react significantly faster than any conventional power plant and actively contribute to the stability of the electricity grid.
• Flexible application options:
  Surpluses from wind and solar power can be efficiently stored with these systems and fed back into the grid exactly when they are needed. In this way, storage systems compensate for the frequently criticised fluctuations in renewable energies in a targeted and efficient manner. This renders the theory of pure emergency power obsolete. Read more about the different applications here.
• Sustainability and cost-effectiveness:
  Modern storage systems operate emission-free and enable even more resource-efficient and economically attractive utilisation through the additional use of second-life batteries.
• Batteries are therefore “all-rounders”:
  Batteries can store energy, “store out” energy, stabilise the grid or compensate for reactive power. This is the big difference to power plants that only generate electricity.

Politicians are focussing on new gas-fired power plants instead

The German government is currently planning the construction of 20 gigawatts of additional gas-fired power plant capacity. The aim is to ensure security of supply, particularly in phases of low renewable feed-in such as dark doldrums.

This figure is stated as a necessary minimum in the power plant strategy. However, it remains to be seen how much secured capacity will actually be needed in the end. Researchers also anticipate significantly higher values in various scenarios. The planned 20 gigawatts are considered a rather optimistic assumption and mark the lower end of the possible requirement.

However, an article by ZDFheute – Kritik an Kraftwerksstrategie casts a critical light on this course: ‘Gas-fired power plants are expensive, harmful to the climate and risk a step backwards in the energy transition.’

This discussion shows one thing above all: focussing on fossil solutions ties up resources that should be invested in modern, sustainable technologies. Instead of focussing on expensive and CO₂-intensive gas-fired power plants, we should invest much more in this clean and flexible solution for the future.

Rethinking base load

The idea of a constant base load dates back to a time when large centralised power plants set the pace. Today, however, the energy system is changing. It is becoming more decentralised, is increasingly based on fluctuating renewable energies and requires significantly more flexibility in generation and consumption.

In such a system, the rigid concepts of the past are no longer sufficient. Technologies are needed that can adapt dynamically to the energy supply and demand. Battery storage systems already fulfil this requirement today. In 2024 alone, green power worth 554 million euros had to be curtailed, i.e. destroyed, due to a lack of necessary grid expansion and additional storage installations. A less bureaucratic approach could quickly improve this situation.

STABL Energy develops solutions for energy storage that are based on second-life batteries and combine technical performance with economic efficiency.

Our question for the future of energy

Are battery storage systems really unable to make a contribution to the base load supply? Or does the problem lie more in our adherence to outdated ideas from the fossil fuel era? What is needed now is the courage to break new ground. Politicians and society are called upon to invest in future-oriented technologies and to take a long-term view. Instead of relying on transitional solutions that slow down our energy system in the long term, we should focus on sustainable and dynamic solutions.

We are convinced that an energy system that is flexible, safe and climate-friendly can only be designed with an open view of what is technically feasible and economically viable. Now is the right time to rethink – for a sustainable energy supply of tomorrow.