Energy storage- fueling the future

Law of conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can be transformed from one form to another. This energy transformation usually has an intermediate step –Energy Storage. With the advent of renewable energy and electric vehicles, energy storage is now recognised as the main enabler fuelling the electric economies of the world.

Energy is stored in numerous forms and volumes including gigawatt pumped hydro systems to the smallest watt-hour battery. Energy Storage research and development is hence the key to ensure cleaner and sustainable fuel for the future.

The UK government has emphasised the importance of energy storage research considering the technological developments in the electric vehicles and renewable energy sectors. Minister Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, committing over £1 billion over the next 4 years. This includes the Faraday Challenge for clean and flexible energy which is an investment of £246 million over 4 years to boost design, development and manufacture of batteries for the electrification of vehicles. This InnovateUK blog captures information about the Faraday Challenge.

The UK has world class capability in the development of storage technologies which has been captured in this comprehensive report by UK Energy Research Centre. This report includes UKs energy storage research facilities and networks along with funding provided for various national and international engagements.

The challenge of developing cleaner and sustainable energy storage solutions for progressive electric economies is huge. It demands global co-operation through collaborative research programs. The Science and Innovation Network is facilitating this process by bilateral dialogue between researchers.

Recently, I conducted an UK-India webinar to map the energy storage research opportunities and gaps. Researchers from Warwick Manufacturing Group (Energy Innovation Centre), Imperial College, NTPC NETRA, IIT Bombay (Energy Science Engineering), Indian Energy Storage Alliance, Veer Jijamata Technology Institute, presented a high level view of the energy storage landscape in India and the UK and also mentioned ongoing research within their organisations.India Energy Storage Alliance is leading the Knowledge partner network which maps various academic and industrial energy storage activities in India.

There is a definite appetite for collaborative research which can be facilitated through various channels.  To learn more about the Indian energy storage story please see the following links:

• International Conference on Advances on Energy Research at IIT Bombay
• RE-Invest
• Elecrama
• International Conference and exhibition on energy storage India

Watch this space for further developments and please do write to me at vishakha.chandhere@fco.gov.uk  if you have an exciting idea/opportunity/information on energy storage.