A new generation, of highly flexible modular energy storage solutions, finally overcomes the standby mentality of the energy storage market. PES caught up with Alvaro Garcia, Managing Director of Storing Renewable Energy Ltd, part of EFT Group, official service partner for BYD B-Box in Europe, about the energy storage market trends visible at Intersolar Europe and BYD’s B-Box storage series.
PES: Welcome to PES Solar magazine. We didn’t have the opportunity for a catch-up at Intersolar as it was really busy, so it’s great to have the opportunity to catch-up now. Energy storage has been one of the key topics at Intersolar Europe for the last four or five years – so what changed?
Alvaro Garcia: I guess nobody in the industry would deny a connection between the development of the solar energy market and the evolution of energy storage solutions. 2017 was the fourth year ees Europe was held in parallel with Intersolar, which also reflects the close relationship between the two markets. Nevertheless, the development of energy storage implementation has been rather slow.
To quote Maroš ŠefČoviČ, the European Commission VP in charge of the Energy Union: ‘The role and importance of storage have been underestimated for too long.’
Matt Roberts, executive director of the Energy Storage Association (ESA) recently said: ‘Storage technologies demonstrated to be safe, reliable, and cost-effective. (..) now it’s about application of solutions. On that issue, we’re close to an inflection point — with everything required for major shift in energy systems through introduction of energy storage.’
PES: So do you think we have reached this inflection point and what were the reasons for the slow pick-up in the market?
