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How to address the challenges of scaling storage worldwide
25/2/2026
8 min read
Feature
‘The defining challenge of the next phase of the energy transition is storage,’ said Malcolm Turnbull, a former Prime Minister of Australia and now President of the International Hydropower Association, at International Energy Week. Via a video link, Turnbull introduced a wide-ranging discussion on the technical, commercial and geopolitical challenges of scaling up a mix of storage technologies, with increasing cross-border co-operation globally. Brian Davis, Features Editor, New Energy World, reports.
‘If we are serious about decarbonisation, energy security and affordability, then we have to be serious about how we store energy at scale, across continents and across decades’, he remarked. ‘Storage turns intermittent energy into reliable power. Allowing nations to balance supply and demand, stabilise grids and unlock the full value of the renewable [energy] revolution.’
Moreover, Turnbull suggested that building storage infrastructure will give governments the confidence to move faster on clean energy without compromising reliability, by addressing concerns about the inherent intermittency of renewable energy like wind and solar.
Session moderator Ieda Gomes FEI, Senior Advisor at FGV Energia, Brazil, took up the story. ‘Storage is very much at the heart of the energy transition, and global storage capacity – from batteries to hydropower – is expected to treble by 2030 according to industry forecasts.’ For example, Ember’s Global Renewable Target Tracker estimates that global storage capacity will reach 1,500 GW by 2030, in line with the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge of G7 nations at COP29.