Grid Scale Storage Workshop – EPSRC

EPSRC is holding a virtual community workshop in Grid Scale Storage on 18 and 19 January 2021. This will be an interdisciplinary workshop bringing together both industrial and academic researchers who are addressing challenges in areas relating to grid scale storage.

This workshop will identify the limitations in current approaches and will facilitate the identification of research challenges and opportunities in the area. In addition to evaluating the science behind these ideas, the social and economic implications will also be considered. The workshop will give attendees the opportunity to feed into EPSRC strategic development for the area.

This virtual workshop will take place on zoom. Sifting of EoIs will need to take place as only 30 slots are available for open competition.

Background

The challenges facing Grid Scale Storage require input from individuals working across a multitude of Energy research areas including: Energy Storage, End Use Energy Demand (Energy Efficiency), Networks, Whole Energy Systems, Hydrogen and Alternative Energy Vectors.

Grid Scale Storage is a particularly difficult challenge as it will require coordination across multiple energy vectors at scale. In addition to the scientific challenges, this will have significant economic and societal costs associated with any proposed solution(s) and any potential inconvenience to the consumer. Furthermore, significant capital investments will be required to meet the demand for grid scale storage in this country.

This workshop aims to investigate targeted requirements for intervention in the area of Grid Scale Storage. No specific technologies are currently identified as out of scope; however, the focus of the research should be on providing this storage at scale to meet the demands of users and to mitigate the issues caused by the intermittency of renewables as their share of generation looks to increase. It will bring together industry and academia to jointly identify and address these challenges and support the community and research domain to grow as to increase the UK’s capability in the area.

The attendees will be shortlisted based on a brief internal evaluation within the Energy team, ensuring that a broad and diverse range of expertise and voices are covered from relevant research disciplines and technologies. Preference will be given to candidates with significant knowledge and experience in grid scale storage research though at least one space will be allocated to an Early Career Researcher.

Expected criteria for shortlisting are: