The integration of distributed and non-dispatchable renewable energy into the wider energy system (electricity, heat/cold and transport) poses significant challenges for the design and operation of the energy system. For example, due to the increasing fraction of non-dispatchable generation it becomes more important to provide novel mechanisms to balance supply and demand. Energy storage is one of the enabling technologies for future, low carbon energy systems and can provide wide-ranging benefits such as peak shaving, frequency regulation and load shifting. 

The Energy Storage Discussion Group brings together researchers with different backgrounds working on energy storage related topics and provides a platform for discussions of inter-disciplinary concepts. Current members of ESDG are from the Institute for Energy Systems (IES) but we invite anyone interested in energy storage to join this discussion group.

ESDG members meet on a regular monthly basis; at every meeting we present and discuss recent journal publications on energy storage and current research. The main purpose of our meetings is to provide an opportunity to present new concepts, methods, technologies and challenges in the area. Each presentation typically lasts 10-15 minutes, followed by a 20-30 minute discussion. At every meeting two presentations are given: one about a journal paper not from this research group and one about current research in this research group. The presentations and the meetings in general are informal, but we follow strictly the following rules:

1. The papers must be energy storage related, but the exact topic can be anything from battery storage, to thermal storage and system integration. This facilitates widening of the horizons of the ESDG members, while staying within the topic of energy storage.
2. The presented papers must be transactions-quality publications (to ensure high quality of presented material).
3. The papers must not be authored by the presenter or any other ESDG member[*] (to facilitate cross-fertilisation and introduction of new concepts and ideas).
4. Everyone gets to and has to present a paper every now and then!
5. The current research should really be current with open questions, challenges and problems.

[*]: The only exception to this rule is when, occasionally, we use the ESDG meetings as a test run for conference presentations to be given by our members.

Next meeting: Tuesday 07.11.2017, 3-4pm, AGB meeting room

1. Maja Persson presents her research on 'Hydrogen Energy Systems for Local Energy Storage and Services'
2. Serguey Maximov presents the report: P. Denholm and R. Margolis Energy Storage Requirements for Achieving 50% Solar Photovoltaic Energy Penetration in California, 2016

The schedule of the 2016-2017 series of ESDG meetings is shown below:

• Tuesday 01.11.2016, 2-3pm, Bobby Hogg meeting room
  1. Renaldi presents the paper: R. Westway, Repurposing of disused shale gas wells for subsurface heat storage: preliminary analysis concerning UK issues, Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, vol. 49, p.213-227, 2016.
  2. Dan McKinley presents his current research.
• Tuesday 06.12.2016, 2-3pm, Bobby Hogg meeting room
  1. Cancelled because of the IES Research conference
• Tuesday 07.02.2017, 2-3pm, Bobby Hogg meeting room
  1. Ruben Bravo presents the paper:Mario Petrollese, Daniele Cocco, Optimal design of a hybrid CSP-PV plant for achieving the full dispatchability of solar energy power plants, Solar Energy, 137, p.477–489, 2016.
  2. Jafar Daoud presents his current research
• Tuesday 07.03.2017, 2-3pm, Bobby Hogg meeting room
  1. Dan McKinley: the role of synthetic inertia and what that has to do with energy storage
• Tuesday 02.05.2017, 2-3pm, Bobby Hogg meeting room
  1. Ruben Bravo presents his current research on concentrated solar power with thermal storage
  2. Jafar Daoud presents the paper: Ambra Dreos et al., Exploring the potential of a hybrid device combining solar water heating and molecular solar thermal energy storage, Energy & Environmental Science, 10, p. 728-734, 2017.
• Tuesday 04.07.2017, 2-3pm, Bobby Hogg meeting room
  1. Zihao Li presents the paper: Lu et al., State-of-Charge Balance Using Adaptive Droop Control for Distributed Energy Storage Systems in DC Microgrid Applications, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 61, 6, p. 2804-2815, 2014.
  2. Daniel Friedrich presents the paper: N'Tsoukpoe et al., The concept of cascade thermochemical storage based on multimaterial system for household applications, Energy & Buildings, 129, p. 138-149, 2016.
• Tuesday 05.07.2017
  1. Visiting student Francisco Jesús Lizana Moral present his PhD research at the University of Seville.
  2. Ruben Bravo presents the paper: H. C. Gils, Y. Scholz, T. Pregger, D. L. de Tena, D. Heide, Integrated modelling of variable renewable energy-based power supply in Europe, Energy, 123, p. 173-188, 2017.

We are an open and friendly group and we try to keep our meetings relaxed and informal. If you are interested in joining us, please send us an email. Are you the author of any of the above publications? We would be delighted to hear from you.