Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Germany’s Röttgen to address energy storage conference

Germany’s Federal Environment Minister, Norbert Röttgen, has confirmed his attendance at the first "Energy Storage – Summit for the Storage of Renewable Energies" conference, scheduled to be held in Düsseldorf this March. During the event, he will address the issue of energy storage transformation.

Germany's Röttgen will attend the storage technology event in March.

flickr/ohallmann

As has been reported over the last few months, the topic of storage technologies is set to be a big one this year. A report from Pike Research from 2011 predicted that photovoltaic and wind energy production will be the main driver for US$122 billion in investment in energy storage projects over the next decade. 

A new inverter survey by IMS Research additionally identified that energy storage is a key feature of the future. Of the 400 participants questioned, roughly one-sixth said they expected the majority of their photovoltaic systems to incorporate energy storage in the next two years. It was further identified that there are three common factors given for driving the adoption of energy storage: the reduction of battery prices; technical improvements; and the implementation of government policy and legislation.

Last June, Samsung also said that storage is a key element of its future strategy. At the time, it said it was planning to have a range of rechargeable batteries for residential, medium, and large sized photovoltaic plants by 2015.

Issues addressed

At the conference, set to be held at the CCD-South congress centre on the Messe Düsseldorf site on March 13 and 14, Röttgen will specifically address the central role energy storage systems will play in the future at the phase out of nuclear power and the expansion of renewable energy.

The two-day Energy Storage event will also provide a practical overview of innovations together with examples of mature, market-ready applications. Around 200 international experts are expected to attend. Meanwhile a key focus will be on the most important storage techniques from the standpoint of their practical feasibility.

Issues will include batteries, thermal storage, hydrogen- and methane-based storage from renewable energies (Power2Gas) and large pumped-storage power plants.

Visit www.energy-storage-online.de for more information. Also, watch out for more information on the topic of solar energy storage over the coming months.