Energy Storage Europe Association responds to the European Commission’s Public Consultations on the Electrification Action Plan and the Heating and Cooling Strategy, highlighting the need for stronger recognition of storage as a central enabler of electrification and heating decarbonisation. This requires clearer policies to integrate storage into planning and investment pathways, along with measures to remove persistent barriers such as high upfront costs, slow permitting, unfavourable taxation, and weak market signals. Storage should be treated as a default element of a cost-effective, system-friendly transition and reflected accordingly in planning frameworks, financing tools, and flexibility market design.
December 2025 / Policy Papers
Position Paper on Improving Permitting Procedures
The European Union faces growing permitting bottlenecks that threaten its ability to deploy the energy storage capacity needed for a secure, flexible, and decarbonised electricity system. Across Member States, storage projects continue to encounter complex, fragmented, and slow permitting procedures—often lasting several years—despite their critical role in integrating renewable energy and reducing congestion. These delays risk undermining Europe’s 2030 climate targets and slowing industrial decarbonisation.
In response, the Energy Storage Europe Association has published its Position Paper on Improving Permitting Procedures, highlighting the urgent need to streamline, harmonise, and modernise permitting frameworks for energy storage across the EU.
The paper calls for a permitting system that is transparent, technology-neutral, and capacity-enabling, including:
Binding time limits for permitting
Introducing clear, maximum deadlines—12 months in acceleration areas and 24 months elsewhere—to provide certainty for investors and accelerate deployment.
Equal treatment of all storage technologies
Ensuring that long-duration, thermal, and other storage solutions are not disadvantaged compared to batteries, unless justified by proportionate environmental or safety criteria.
Stronger institutional capacity
Equipping national, regional, and local authorities with the technical expertise needed to assess storage projects efficiently, including fire safety, land-use considerations, and technology-specific risks.
Clarifying that full Environmental Impact Assessments should apply only when significant environmental risks exist, avoiding unnecessary delays and excessive burdens for low-impact storage installations.
Digitalisation and transparency
Developing an EU-wide permitting platform, improving data sharing, introducing monitoring of permitting durations, and enabling more consistent cross-border coordination.
Europe needs a fast, fair, and future-proof permitting framework to unlock the estimated 200 GW of energy storage required by 2030. Streamlined permitting is essential not only for renewable integration, but also for energy security, grid resilience, and the competitiveness of European industry.
Energy Storage Europe Association responds to the European Commission’s Public Consultations on the Electrification Action Plan and the Heating and Cooling Strategy, highlighting the need for stronger recognition of storage as a central enabler of electrification and heating decarbonisation. This requires clearer policies to integrate storage into planning and investment pathways, along with measures to remove persistent barriers such as high upfront costs, slow permitting, unfavourable taxation, and weak market signals. Storage should be treated as a default element of a cost-effective, system-friendly transition and reflected accordingly in planning frameworks, financing tools, and flexibility market design.
In this position paper, the Energy Storage Europe Association calls for a shift from today’s “first-come, first-served” queue system to a more efficient, strategic, and transparent framework that recognises the unique value of energy storage for reducing congestion, enhancing flexibility, and making better use of existing grid infrastructure.
Energy Storage Europe Association has published its Position Paper on Improving Permitting Procedures, highlighting the urgent need to streamline, harmonise, and modernise permitting frameworks for energy storage across the EU. Europe needs a fast, fair, and future-proof permitting framework to unlock the estimated 200 GW of energy storage required by 2030.
Energy Storage Europe Association responds to the European Commission’s Public Consultations on the Electrification Action Plan and the Heating and Cooling Strategy, highlighting the need for stronger recognition of storage as a central enabler of electrification and heating decarbonisation. This requires clearer policies to integrate storage into planning and investment pathways, along with measures to remove persistent barriers such as high upfront costs, slow permitting, unfavourable taxation, and weak market signals. Storage should be treated as a default element of a cost-effective, system-friendly transition and reflected accordingly in planning frameworks, financing tools, and flexibility market design.
The 9.5 edition of the European Market Monitor on Energy Storage (EMMES) by the Energy Storage Europe Association and LCP Delta, is now available. The EU, UK, Norway, and Switzerland together are expected to reach 100 GW of installed energy storage in November 2025. This milestone represents enough capacity to meet the peak electricity demand of Germany and the Netherlands. With storage capacity forecast to grow by a further 115% by 2030, this will play a crucial role in Europe’s energy transition, creating more space for renewables on the grid.
