OREANDA-NEWS. Under a new renewable energies programme entitled “Storage”, KfW Bankengruppe and the Federal Ministry for the Environment are supporting the increased use of energy storage in conjunction with solar photovoltaic systems linked to the electricity grid. The programme aims to encourage further technical development of storage battery systems for solar PV installations and to increase their market penetration. Energy storage systems are an important component in improving the integration of small-to-medium PV systems into the electricity grid.

“The success of the energy turnaround will entirely depend on integrating electricity from renewable sources into our energy system on a reliable, permanent basis. The energy system needs to become more flexible overall, and solar and wind power generation must be more decoupled from grid feed-in. Energy storage technologies have a major part to play here. Through this new programme we’re helping to bring small energy storage units onto the market and improve their market penetration, so that prices should fall as their use increases” said Dr Axel Nawrath, member of the KfW Bankengruppe Executive Board.

The programme, which gets underway on 1st May, is aimed at companies and individuals who use a solar photovoltaic system to generate electricity and feed some or all of it into the grid. The programme provides low-interest loans and repayment subsidies for new solar PV installations which incorporate a fixed battery storage system, and for the retrofit of such systems to solar PV installations commissioned after 31st December 2012. Finance is available for up to 100% of eligible net investment costs. The subsidy amounts to a maximum of 30% of the investment cost for the energy storage system, and it is linked to demanding technical requirements. This ensures that funding is only provided for high-quality products. Furthermore, to receive funding, systems must help to reduce pressure on the local grid: peak production from the solar PV installation at midday is not fed into the grid, but is stored in batteries for use later in the home. Funds of 25 million euro are available for the year 2013. Applications can be made at on-lending banks.