6th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference

Bonn/Wuppertal, September 14, 2011

EUROSOLAR, in cooperation with EnergyAgency.NRW, the service provider to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in all energy matters, invites to the 6th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition (IRES) taking place in Berlin from November 28-30, 2011.

The battery and storage technology conference has meanwhile become the industry’s natural meeting place to discuss and share insights into one of the key issues of future energy supply. The organizers expect a number of more than 600 attendees from around the world again this year. It will be held at the Berlin Congress Center for the first time.

The problem of fluctuating power generation from intermittent renewable sources remains. No wind is continuously blowing, as sunlight is not constantly available with the same intensity and not all during night time. Energy storage is, therefore, needed to bridge the time lag between the time renewable energy is available and the time at which it is needed.

"Substituting for fossil and atomic energy through renewable forms of energy relies on energy storage as a pivotal piece. It will create new markets for renewable energy worldwide", said Irm Scheer-Pontenagel, EUROSOLAR's managing director. "We have to focus our efforts on storage systems if we want using renewable energy technologies to become more economical. Energy storage is the key enabling technology", stated Lothar Schneider, the director of EnergyAgency.NRW. Experts from Germany and abroad will discuss and debate the technologies, available and in development, for storing energy generated from the renewable source.

"Accelerating the entry of renewable energy requires accelerating the development and implementation of new and powerful storage technologies as well" Irm Scheer-Pontenagel said. The conference will showcase both field-proven and innovative solutions among other things.

Also highlighted will be small and large-scale storage solutions for stationary applications from lithium-ion batteries to hydrogen storage or storage of synthetic methane, the link between energy storage and power generation in virtual power plants, the role of electric mobility and heat storage. In this context, the political and economic framework conditions that are necessary for the broad introduction of energy storage will be discussed. This year's event will bring together more than 90 expert speakers from 20 countries, among others from Germany, France, Canada, USA, Belgium, Spain, China, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

Energy storage technology has made a lot of progress lately, especially in connection with the development of hybrid cars and electric vehicles. "In this case the growing pressure from soaring oil prices has had the effect of motivating science and industry to work together to find solutions and first and foremost to succeed" Mr. Schneider said. Today’s lithium-ion batteries offer significantly more energy density. Meanwhile li-ion batteries of 150 Wh/kg can store over two times the charge of the current nickel-metal-hydride batteries. The obligation to the future is to publicize existing storage systems and to make them economical and marketable products in the long run.

The IRES registration fee amounts to € 625 (for EUROSOLAR members) and € 850 (for non-members). More information, registration form and conference programme are available here.

ENDS

© Scoop Media