On Tuesday (17 December), edie hosted a masterclass with EDF Energy on energy storage and onsite renewable generation. Here, we round up the key insights and information on this crucial issue for sustainability and energy managers.
Below are the top five takeaways from the webinar, which saw expert speakers Vincent de Rul, director of energy solutions, and Neil Muller, product owner – battery, at EDF Energy, answer listeners’ questions and deliver key information on energy storage.
— WATCH THE MASTERCLASS ON DEMAND HERE —
1) In a net-zero world, energy storage is not an optional add-on
As Vincent de Rul alluded to several times throughout the webinar, the time is now for action. After net-zero was enshrined into UK law through an amendment to the Climate Change Act 2008, it has become clear that energy storage will play a business-critical role in the transition.
de Rul highlighted at the beginning of the masterclass a line from the IPCC’s landmark report in 2018:
‘The burning question for energy is, how can we each be part of a solution that powers our businesses in a way that is more efficient, cuts waste and curbs emissions?”
2) Net-zero for energy requires a whole-system approach
de Rul went on to emphasise that battery is the key to success but is not the only solution on its own. “It complements efficiency, flex and EV in the mix and is vital to the grid balance and to net-zero.”, he said.
In this way, there is a net-zero network which is “the sum of many parts” as he outlined below. Energy for net-zero means “every drop of resource is used and reused as efficiently as possible”, Vincent said.
He outlined how it was important to have:
Live energy monitoring- identify where you are using and wasting energy.
Reduce your carbon- through guaranteed renewable and low carbon energy sources.
Get flexible: flex your assets to reuse energy and create additional revenue streams through DSR, storage and V2G.
3) Battery storage: Who’s it for?
When assessing who battery storage is for, de Rul outlined that “any type and size of business can benefit from deploying energy storage” – but that “the technology is most appropriate for those businesses that have “particular concerns around energy prices or resilience, and those that undertake critical, energy-intensive industrial processes.”
He also said that it was useful for businesses “that already have on-site generation, as energy storage will allow them to utilise more of their own generation and less energy from the grid.”
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