The 11th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference (IRES 2017) of EUROSOLAR e.V. and the 6th Energy Storage Europe 2017 (ESE) trade fair was held in Messe Düsseldorf in March.
The event attracted more than 650 experts attending the conferences and discussing the latest developments – focusing on science and research (IRES) and business and finance (ESE). Over 4,200 visitors from more than 55 countries attended this year’s trade fair. These figures affirm the position of the IRES Conference, the Energy Storage Europe Conference and the trade fair as the world’s leading platform for storage technologies. Topics ranged from battery storage to thermal and mechanical storage up to Power2Gas and their practical applications.
The more than 260 contributions from international speakers showed how far the technical development of storage solutions has already advanced and how diverse are the purposes of applications. Over 160 exhibitors – all pushing diverse storage solutions – exhibited at the trade show.
The three conference days discussed new business models, alternatives and additions to grid expansion, intelligently linked decentralized applications, network services and, of course, the convergence of the markets for electricity, heat and transportation. Consensus among participants is that the regulatory framework conditions of this rapidly developing sector lag behind developments or even deliberately slow it down.
Tobias Jaletzky, Managing Director of EUROSOLAR e.V., emphasizes: “The broad market roll-out of storage applications and the multiple use of already existing systems must finally be made possible at the regulatory level without discrimination and artificial barriers. The success of the energy transition is not a technological question, but rather a political one. The acceleration of the energy turnaround, the introduction of a New Energy MarketOrder with renewable energies and storage at its core are overdue. Only this way the economic, technical and societal potentials of a fast, price-efficient and decentralized energy supply can be achieved.”
Outlook
In the coming year, 2018, the 12th IRES and the 7th ESE will open their doors again from 13th till 15th March in Düsseldorf, Germany.
