The 16th Forum Solarpraxis opened its doors today in Berlin, Germany, to around 750 attendees, 100 more than the previous year. Reflecting its growing importance in the solar sphere, energy storage was top of the agenda, and was addressed in the opening conference session. To the surprise - and delight - of the audience, Volker Hoppenbrock from Germany's Federal Ministry of Economy, said a parliamentary budget committee was currently discussing the extension of storage subsidies, which are currently on track to expire this December 31. He said that while a timeframe has not set regarding final decisions, it appears likely the subsidies will be extended for another three years. The news will no doubt be welcomed by the industry, with many having forecast a downturn in the sector on the back of the funding shutdown. Indeed, EuPD Research told pv magazine earlier this week its head of economics Martin Ammon calculated that in 2016, storage market growth will drop to 13% without the subsidies. Also under discussion are more regulations, which will increase grid integration of the energy storage systems. Currently, they are not permitted to feed in more than 60%; this will likely be reduced. Furthermore, one must pay to store energy on the grid and then again to release it. The government is also looking to change this. A new EEG (German renewable energy law) will be released in 2017, with discussions on the amendments taking place next year. The focus will be on tender procedures, instead of FITs, for renewables. In an interesting ...Den vollständigen Artikel lesen ...