Agora unpacks key concepts and trends around flexibility and battery storage
As power systems evolve to include rising shares of renewables, electrification, and more variable demand, electricity systems are becoming more dynamic. In this context, flexibility—balancing electricity supply and demand in real time, including battery energy storage systems (BESS)—is emerging as core to an affordable, reliable, and climate-neutral electricity system. This is especially true as geopolitical disruptions underscore the risks of imported fossil fuels, while falling costs are making BESS an increasingly competitive alternative. Agora Energiewende’s two new FAQs explain flexibility and battery storage in accessible terms, drawing on data and real-world examples. Flexibility enables power systems to respond to shocks and variability. Batteries increase flexibility by providing services such as balancing, frequency regulation, and energy shifting to better integrate more renewable power into the electricity system.
The FAQs also set out key building blocks for scaling flexibility and BESS, including market design, grid infrastructure, and investment frameworks. They underline that the most resilient and cost-effective systems combine multiple flexibility options, including storage, demand response, interconnection, and different kinds of renewable power. The FAQs aim to inform ongoing discussions among policymakers, regulators, system operators, and investors on how to build reliable, affordable, and climate-neutral power systems.
Agora Industry shows how to successfully build infrastructure for carbon capture and storage
While renewable energy and electrification can decarbonize much of the economy, some industries—including cement, lime, and waste management—are likely to require additional solutions to reach climate neutrality. In these sectors, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a critical tool to reduce remaining emissions by capturing CO₂ and storing it permanently underground.
An Agora Industry analysis shows that Europe is not yet on track to scale CCS fast enough to meet its climate goals. Costs for carbon capture, transport, and storage currently range between 150 and 300 €/t CO₂—far above the EU carbon price. Because it costs far more to remove and restore CO₂ than companies must pay to emit it, there is currently insufficient investment certainty to develop CCS infrastructure without additional policy measures. Long lead times of 6 to 13 years to build offshore storage also mean capacity is likely to develop too slowly, with storage capacity in 2030 expected to deliver just one-fifth of the EU’s 2030 storage target.
Strategically scaling CCS requires targeted support, including carbon contracts for difference to bridge early cost gaps, state-backed guarantees to de-risk infrastructure, faster permitting for storage sites and transport networks, and clear rules to prioritize limited storage for sectors with few decarbonization alternatives. As the European Commission prepares new CO₂ infrastructure legislation, Agora Industry’s analysis supports an industrial policy framework for a more coordinated, investment-ready European CCS strategy.
ICCT analysis underpins Indonesia’s first SAF mandate, projected to slash up to 1 million tons of CO2e by 2030
Supported by ICCT analysis and coordination, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) issued Indonesia’s first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate in April—requiring a 1 percent SAF blend by 2027, rising to 5 percent by 2029–2030. The Indonesian government has signaled that used cooking oil and palm fatty acid distillate (a residue resulting from the refining of crude palm oil) may be used instead of higher-emission feedstocks.
Ahead of the mandate’s adoption, ICCT staff in Indonesia met with key ministries and stakeholders—including MEMR, the Coordinating Ministry for Investment and Industrial Affairs (CMIRD), and major fuel producer Pertamina—to present research on SAF and used cooking oil. ICCT submitted memos for the CMIRD 2060 SAF industrial roadmap and the 2030 transport decarbonization roadmap. ICCT research was cited in the SAF industrial roadmap, and the blending mandate aligns with ICCT’s recommendation.
The 5 percent mandate is projected to cut roughly 1 million tons of CO2e by 2030. ICCT will continue to engage policymakers to ensure virgin palm oil, which has a significant emissions impact, is excluded from the mandate, and also to expand the policy to sustainable marine fuel.
From policy to impact: Highlights from CLASP’s Annual Report
Over the past twelve months, CLASP supported the development of eighteen new appliance efficiency policies that are projected to avoid 4.6 gigatons of CO2 emissions globally by 2050. One standout example comes from India, where 90 percent of households rely on fans to stay cool amid extreme heat. CLASP partnered with the government and private sector to drastically improve fan efficiency, availability, and affordability, and supported small and medium enterprises in improving their production capacity for efficient fans.
These policies will cut energy demand and climate emissions from cooling, while safeguarding jobs, strengthening local supply chains, and making efficient cooling more affordable for people. This initiative demonstrates that holistic climate action can strengthen businesses, boost energy security, and benefit regular people.
Retrofit Guidelines support Indonesia’s green buildings transition
Indonesia’s state-owned electricity company, PLN, operates 1,300 office buildings across the country. Since 2024, GBPN has been working with PLN to transition its entire building stock to net-zero carbon emissions. PLN and GBPN recently finalized the Green, Smart, and Net-Zero Energy Buildings Technical Retrofit Guidelines, which offer PLN teams practical methods, benchmarks, and tools for retrofitting existing office buildings in a structured, replicable way. The Guidelines include best practices such as cooling systems and lighting upgrades, building envelope improvements, use of digital controls, and renewable energy integration. The Guidelines also draw on lessons from Singapore and China, where similar retrofit approaches have already been implemented at scale. The costs of the retrofits would be recouped in just four years through energy savings. Once implemented, PLN’s newly energy-efficient buildings can serve as a model for retrofitting practices in commercial buildings across Indonesia.
ITDP teams host high-level exchange for public transport officials from Indonesia and Tanzania
In April, ITDP’s Africa and Indonesia teams, with support from the World Bank, facilitated an executive knowledge exchange program for a Tanzanian delegation under the Dar es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project (DUTP) to visit Jakarta. The delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Finance, regional transport authorities, legal institutions, bus operators, and more. Hosted by TransJakarta, the program combined executive briefings, technical deep dives, and field-based learning focused on the operational and financial realities of overseeing a large-scale bus system such as Jakarta’s, which serves 1.5 million passengers daily using 5,200 buses. The exchange highlighted the critical role of urban public transport in reducing emissions by shifting trips away from private vehicles, improving infrastructure efficiency, and enabling the transition to zero-emission buses at scale.
Further discussions were held on fiscal issues, including fare policy and subsidy structures, in order to maintain affordable and reliable service while reducing financial risk for bus operators, particularly during the transition to e-buses. Overall, the conversations underlined the importance of institutional coordination, real-time operational management, and multimodal integration across systems to improve ridership and enhance service quality. Members of the DUTP delegation gained both practical management lessons and larger policy insights from TransJakarta that will help strengthen their own regulatory frameworks and transport planning for Dar es Salaam.
From the Secretariat: Fossil fuel-derived fertilizers are vulnerable to price spikes and bad for the climate. We need to get serious about using less.
The energy impacts of the Hormuz closure have been immediate and painful, but its effects on fertilizers won’t be felt for months. In a recent LinkedIn article, Crux Alliance Policy Director Steve Capanna explains why reliance on fossil-fuel-derived fertilizers poses risks to food security and the climate, and offers four strategies that would cut emissions while contributing to a more resilient global food system.
Building Decarbonization Forum at London Climate Action Week
Attending London Climate Action Week? Join the Clean Heat Forum (managed by the Regulatory Assistance Project and E3G) and the Swedish government at the first Buildings Decarbonization Forum. This high‑level event will look at strategic policy pathways, catalytic market enablers, and leading international practices that can unlock clean‑heating solutions at scale in the U.K. and beyond.
Find CLASP at London Climate Action Week
CLASP’s experts will be joining three LCAW events to speak about the role of appliance and equipment efficiency in enhancing energy security, affordability, economic development, job growth, and climate mitigation and adaptation.
Biofuels in shipping: Balancing decarbonization with food security and forests
Bryan Comer, Director, International Council on Clean Transportation, will join an invite-only roundtable exploring how demand for shipping biofuels could affect food security, land use, and forests, while identifying practical solutions that support climate goals.
China’s energy transition in numbers: 10 trends shaping the path ahead
As China approaches key climate and energy milestones, the focus is shifting from renewable expansion to system integration and implementation. On June 17th, Agora Energy China and Agora Energiewende are hosting a webinar that brings together leading experts on the latest data, emerging challenges, and the trends likely to shape China’s energy transition through 2030.
The future of petrochemicals: industrial electrification in South Korea and beyond
On June 18th, Agora Industry, NEXT group, and Agora Energiewende will jointly host a webinar to explore the evolving petrochemical landscape—in South Korea and globally—and the role of electrification in decarbonizing the industry. The discussion will highlight practical technology pathways across core processes and supporting systems, drawing on both South Korean and international experience to identify actionable strategies for the sector’s transition.