The mayor of London was recently lambasted by climate protesters for asking that we return to “business as usual”. Their palpable anger at this simple turn of phrase is reflective of the scale of change being called for us to decarbonise as swiftly as possible. The storage industry, still relatively nascent, hasn’t yet found its “business as usual” and is in an excellent position to help steer the UK way from the status quo. But how will the storage industry respond to this challenge and what role does it play in facilitating this change?
Both storage and renewables are at a pivotal point in their development and, in partnership, can capitalise on the available opportunities and flourish. The Electricity Storage Network’s annual symposium aims to bring these two worlds together and devise innovative solutions to provide the vital flexibility needed.
Regen took over management of the Electricity Storage Network a year ago and this is our first opportunity to connect the progressive work of these two sectors in a major event; our first session, the leaders’ forum, does just that, with senior leaders from National Grid, Habitat Energy, Anesco and Highview Power debating the value for storage in the energy system.
The third industry we want to bring into the fold are the smart, technology companies. These new technologies are ground-breaking, but many are still in early stages and have yet to find the right energy application. The prospects are exciting; from data commons – shared and open by default – to machine learning algorithms that can maximise flexibility. But the high levels of ambition are not yet being realised. Our session about capitalising on smart technologies will showcase some of the most exciting digital innovations in energy, bridging that gap between the legacy technologies of the energy sector and the tech world.
With these themes in mind, our other sessions, featuring speakers from Gridserve, BEIS and Fluence among others, will take a deep-dive into the future of flexibility, challenge our perceptions of regulation and policy, and finally, look to the long-term, stable future for storage.
Tickets are available on our website where you can also find the agenda and our exciting line up of speakers. We look forward to welcoming you on 4 June in London.
