In his key note speech at Energy Storage – International Summit for the Storage of Renewable Energies, which took place on March 13 and 14 in Düsseldorf, the German Minister of the Environment, Norbert Röttgen, described the event as a unique, pioneering event. Energy storage is a hot topic this was reflected by the fact that 350 participants from 29 countries took part in the two-day conference with accompanying exhibition.
Röttgen explained: Exploring storage technologies and bringing them to full maturity for industrial applications is a strategic task which is indispensible if we want our energy transition policy to work. According to the Minister, the energy transition is still a herculean task, which can only be tackled if everyone joins forces. Fortunately Germany is strong enough, he added in the ensuing discussion.
In their opening addresses, organisers Hans Werner Reinhard of Messe Düsseldorf and Karl-Heinz Remmers, Chairman of the Executive Board of Solarpraxis AG, a knowledge services provider, both referred to the changed paradigm in energy supply which the development and future wider application of storage technologies will lead to. Remmers said: In future, the development of storage technology will have to focus on cutting prices and making technologies more efficient and more widely available.
The Chairman of the Conference Programme Committee, Prof. Dr. Eicke R. Weber, Spokesman of the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance and Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, reminded the audience that a lot of pigeon-hole thinking is still creating obstacles to the energy transition. It is important to see the whole picture in order to tackle the challenges of the energy transition, he explained.
Professor Weber went on to say that he considered the Energy Storage Conference an important step in this direction. He felt that the large number of renowned experts and the excellent presentations all contributed to the events success. I have attended a lot of conferences all over the world, but I have never been in a situation like here: Wherever I look I can see someone interesting with whom to discuss energy storage. We have all the experts here that we need", Professor Weber added.
Achim Zerres of the German Federal Network Agency made a connection between the development of storage technologies and other measures taken as part of the energy transition. He also mentioned cross-border exchange of energy, which will increase and be competition for energy storage technologies. The same was true for adapting consumption to power generation. The expansion of the grid may make storage technologies obsolete, said Mr Zerres, but then again the expense of grid expansion may be reduced by employing storage technologies. To do this, generation and consumption had to be located close to each other.
In the session Scenarios for the energy supply of the future and the role of storage technologies, Raphael Goldstein of German Trade and Invest GmbH explained that 25 to 50 billion Euros are expected to be invested in the expansion of storage capacities.
In 2011, the surplus in electricity production had already led to a demand for 15 GWh of storage capacity. Thermal storage is indispensible for making renewable energy available for efficient heating and cooling. The last discussion round on the first day of the conference concluded their topic of thermal energy storage in agreement. The panelists underlined that there is not one single technology that can meet all of the requirements – different challenges call for different solutions. They agreed that it is important to start off by determining the purpose of a storage system.
There was also a discussion about the pros and cons of cooling and heating technology, latent heat accumulators and thermo-chemical storage. Prof. Dr. Olav Hohmeyer, Professor of energy and resource management at Flensburg University chaired a discussion round on Large Scale Hydro Storage and European Grid Integration on the second day. The debate centred on Norway, which has 50 percent of Europe's storage potential on account of its large lakes. Norway was presented as Europes green battery, boasting a storage capacity of around 84 terrawatt hours, and, unlike any other storage technology, with the option of long-term storage.
The panelists concluded that thinking within national boxes would not lead to the right solutions but that it was important to look for European solutions. The final discussion underlined the necessity of putting the energy system as a whole to the test. This should include examining the energy mix of the future and how the expansion of the grid and storage capacity can meet its demands. This was the only way of achieving reasonable, economic and efficient planning.
The experts agreed that we will need a mix of storage technologies in order to meet the demands of the future. Within that mix, the largest share will be covered by those storage technologies which improve the quickest, i.e. which are fastest in increasing efficiency whilst lowering prices.
The exhibition accompanying the conference also met with great interest. Twenty exhibitors presented their products and services in the field of storage technology. After the promising start, the event will be continued next year: The next Energy Storage International Summit for the Storage of Renewable Energies takes place in Düsseldorf on May 18 and 19, 2013.
