Creation of EASE
Europe’s leading players in the energy sector, including manufacturers, utilities and academic bodies, have come together in Brussels to sign the formal constitution for the creation of the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE).
The primary role of EASE is to bring together the diverse players currently investigating the role of energy storage in the future evolution of Europe’s electricity grids within a single, coherent body of competence and influence.
This international non-profit association is focused on acting as a coherent voice to promote the roles of energy storage as key enabling technologies for Europe’s transition towards a sustainable, flexible and stable energy system.
Patterns of energy supply and consumption are changing rapidly, especially with the large increasing penetration of renewable energy sources and distributed generation. In addition, the sustained increases in fossil fuel prices, changing market regulations and stringent environmental targets means that there is a considerable pressure on stakeholders to evolve to meet these new demands.
Effective energy storage can deliver a number of strategic services both on the regulated and deregulated side of the power business, addressing three major challenges: balancing demand and supply, management of transmission and distribution grids, and energy efficiency.
The main aims of EASE are therefore to stimulate the development of innovative energy storage technologies and applications through building a platform for the sharing and dissemination of knowledge and information, and to co-ordinate national activities. Consequently EASE will act as a sound and visible advocate of energy storage in Europe.
The Brussels-based organisation grew out of an initiative launched by the European Commission to investigate applications of storage within the framework of the EU's energy and climate policy. In fact, following an Energy Storage Task Force launched by the European Commission in 2009 and the results of the final workshop, a group of leading European energy players decided to work together to found the new association.
It promises to work on technology and application-related aspects of energy storage such as assessment of storage applications and development of storage technology roadmaps as well as addressing financial, economic and regulatory issues. It plans to work with all relevant groups to discuss the optimal integration of all components into validation projects and business models for a successful transition to a low carbon, safe and sustainable energy infrastructure, and to help establish a master plan for the introduction of energy storage worldwide.
EASE represents all European participants active in the energy storage arena and will promote and support analysis and evaluation of the benefits of utilising energy storage in the broader energy grid. It will also co-operate with other national and international energy storage organisations, including Electricity Storage Association (ESA) in the USA.
The 13 founding members of EASE are Alstom, DONG Energy A/S, EDF SA, EnBW AG, Enel S.p.A., E.ON AG, GDF SUEZ SA, Hitachi Power Europe GmbH, KEMA BV, RISØ DTU, RWE AG, Saft SAS, and Siemens AG. Bernard Delpech has been appointed as the Founding President of EASE by the French energy group EDF.
The founding members have designed EASE as a truly European entity, complementary to the existing European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs) in the frame of SET-Plan and to some Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). The SET-Plan covers a number of relevant areas especially Wind, Solar Energy, Smart Grids, Green Cars, Smart Cities and Efficient Buildings initiatives. EASE represents all European participants active in the energy storage arena, but is also looking for new members.
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