Short paper on the ownership of Storage Facilities in the Electrical Distribution System

The use of energy storage is predicted to be an integral part of the energy transition. At the distribution level, the benefits include the ability of storing excess power from intermittent and renewable generation to handling consumption peaks or voltage variations at different time scales.

The objective of CEER’s Short Paper on the Ownership of Storage Facilities in the Electrical Distribution System is to provide regulators’ views on the processes to assess DSO ownership, development, management and operation of electricity storage facilities. The objective is to ease the interaction between relevant parties and enable a more structured debate on the topic.

This paper outlines a stepwise guide on the tendering procedure and the derogation granting process pursuant to the Electricity Directive of the EU’s Clean Energy Package.

Main conclusions include:
*Most legislators make a clear distinction between fully integrated network components and other storage; however in many cases, they are not precisely defined by the legislation.
*A majority of countries do not have DSO-owned storage, and no derogations have been granted.
*The DSO has to perform an approved tendering procedure to determine whether the services needed are offered in the market . The tender design is thus critical.
*The tender has to be open, transparent and non-discriminatory, and possibly pre-approved by NRAs.
*Regarding the tender design, DSOs should also consider other flexibility options that could offer the same services.