With the energy storage market set to double six times by 2030, industry experts from global brewer Carlsberg, energy solutions advisor Centrica Business Solutions and conservation charity the National Trust discussed the role of energy storage to optimise onsite renewables generation during edie’s Powering Ahead webinar last week.
During the webinar, Carlsberg’s director of environment and utilities, Adam Pawelas, noted that storage solutions are being explored by the brewer, but only as one part of the energy matrix.
“At the moment, we consider battery storage a supplementary solution. We are at the early stages and will not be focusing solely on batteries,” Pawelas said. “In some markets, power-load management is a feasible option to be an active player either by us or by a third party.
“We have some locations where we would like to grow our solar projects where our base load will not be able to consume the installed capacity of those solar PV systems, and there, we will consider the extension of battery storage.”
Carlsberg, which is one of only three major companies to have set and approved a science-based target to reach a 1.5C ambition in line with the Paris Agreement, currently sources 45% of its electricity onsite, but storage solutions aren’t as advanced as onsite renewables for the firm.
The company has vowed to source 100% renewable electricity and eliminate coal as a source of energy by 2022 and the timing couldn’t be better. The business community is in the midst of a renewables revolution, with a record amount of installations coming online in 2017. Tumbling installation costs, combined with a plethora of technology solutions, have created an optimal environment to invest in onsite generation.
In fact, more than 100 not-for-profit organisations, including the National Trust, RSPB and Oxfam, have collectively saved almost £7m on energy procurement costs, after generating more than 48GWh on renewable energy to power estates in 2017.
The National Trust has installed more than 100 renewables arrays on its estate in the past five years and currently generates 12% of its heat damned onsite.
During the webinar, the Trust’s lead project manager for renewable energy investment, Adrian Fox, noted the charity would look at alternative options such as sleeving and hydro-schemes before installing battery storage facilities at any of its sites.
“Our organisation is probably a little bit more risk-adverse, so we are waiting a little bit longer for [storage] developments in terms of cost and security to be established, but it is something we do and will continue to consider on a case-by-case basis,” Fox added.
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