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Volatile Energy - how to solve the long-term storage problem?

In Europe we are trying to manage the transition of our energy system from fossil-fuel based production towards fossil-fuel free production focusing on

• the reduction of greenhouse gases, mainly CO₂ and
• decreasing our dependency on global resources.

At present, we need a reliable baseload capacity for electricity generation, but what we mostly achieve is a large amount of volatile renewable energy from solar and wind. Baseload energy has been generated for centuries utilising coal, gas, and oil however, we need to reduce our reliance on these options sooner rather than later. Fossil-fuel free baseload production will use nuclear, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, tides and wave energy and other technologies. Huge installations offshore and onshore for wind power especially in the Northern and Atlantic Sea already contribute to a remarkable amount of renewable energy whilst Solar PV and concentrated thermal solar power are mainly harvested in Southern Europe. Consequently, we are facing two major challenges:

• Develop and install energy storage technologies and large storage capacities to fill the time gaps caused by low wind periods and no sunshine.
• Distribute energy on a large-scale across Europe from sites of generation to the regions where it is most needed.

Energy storage and distribution requires power lines, batteries and thermal or chemical energy carriers.   These latter options seem to be the most promising solutions for long-term energy storage and long-term transportation. Using ‘green’ electricity to produce hydrogen or synthetic hydrocarbons by using the “C” and the “H₂” or by loading thermal energy carriers seems to be the most viable strategy as many pilot projects in Europe and globally demonstrate.

The necessary chemical processes and thermal storage technologies are principally well understood but their ramping-up to a global scale must start now. The panel discussion will focus on these technologies, including electrolysers and processes to gain progress.