Is collaboration the key to the future of energy storage?
Coventry City Council have been organising events for small to medium sized business to help find out more about the technologies, including their design and application in the UK’s energy mix, that support battery and energy storage projects in their local area.
In the build up to Battery and Energy Storage 2019 – taking place on the 4-5 December at Hilton Metropole in Birmingham – our team caught up with the Shamala Evans, Senior Project Manager at Coventry City Council, to discuss thier enegry and storage projects, local goverment collaboration and how it can benefit the UK.
How can energy storage projects get the most out of the collaboration with local government and how it can benefit UK.
Apart from enabling the increased use of renewable electricity generation, improved energy storage technologies have several more benefits:
- Grid Safety: A more efficient grid that is more resilient to disruptions.
- Environment: Decreased carbon dioxide emissions from a greater use of clean electricity.
Storage technologies are able to absorb and release energy when required and provide secondary power services which help benefit the power system. The storage industry can therefore deliver incredible benefits for system constancy and security of supply as well as helping to decarbonise UK energy supplies.
What are the greatest challenges faced and how are they overcome?
Local Authorities have two stream of funding available to them; capital and revenue. And the primary challenge the LA’s face would be funding projects.
Resource is another challenge. There isn’t expertise within the local government to provide strategic guidance and then have in-house capabilities to deliver these innovative projects. However, partnering and working collaboratively with the private sector, LA’s can overcome these challenges where both parties benefit and deliver projects that align with the Central governments Industrial Strategy and possibly contribute towards the wider Climate Change agenda.
“Enabling a smarter, more efficient energy system has always been a priority for the government”
Finally, what are your predictions for the next 12 months?
Hopefully there will be more synergy between public and private sectors and we can see some innovative projects being delivered. 5G roll out, more EV uptake and long term sustainable solution to EV charging.
Energy storage is widely recognised as a technology that will have a significant role in the UK’s future energy system, allowing for an increased role for renewables, more flexibility, and greater decentralisation.
