Tuesday 6 December 2016

Energy storage vital area for European power sector

Energy storage is seen as a key area by power industry professionals for the European electricity sector in the next two decades.

A survey by POWER-GEN Europe questioned more than 800 professionals to rank the areas they believe are the most important for the region’s energy market.

A total of 38% said energy storage is vital for the industry for the period to 2026 and 41% agreed for the period to 2036.

However they believe they are not well prepared for the disruption the technology may bring.

Cybersecurity was also seen as a dominant industry theme along with smart cities and electric vehicles in the long term.

Wind power is the electricity source that respondents believe will play a steadily important role in the next two decades, while wave, tidal and carbon capture and storage viewed as sectors that will have little short-term impact on Europe’s energy landscape.

Coal-fired generation was at the bottom of the list for both time periods.

Around 60% of respondents also expect demand for electricity to continue to increase and investment in research and development to continue.

However, jobs are felt to be at risk as respondents said the economy would have to grow by as much as 3% before new roles are created.

In the UK, a two-year trial of the largest grid-scale battery in the UK has been successful.