Energy storage is the next obvious addition to solar plants in the UK. Elizabeth Reid of law firm Bird & Bird takes a look at some of the drivers, opportunities – and regulatory obstacles.

Sami Khoreibi, CEO of renewable energy project developer Enviromena, discusses storage in the Middle East and Africa’s energy market in the next decade.

With a surprise general election coming in June for Britain’s ballot-weary voters, Ian Larive of Low Carbon looks at the possibility of political flux interrupting the industry’s momentum – and why whichever party is victorious, they should back energy storage.

Clearly, renewable energy is now a viable alternative to traditional generation from a cost perspective. However solar and wind’s penetration of the grid is constrained by ageing infrastructure, high grid connection costs and their intermittent, weather-dependent nature. Scott McGregor looks at how long-duration energy storage on an industrial scale can help.

Younicos CEO Stephen L. Prince ponders the role of energy storage within the three ‘Ds’ revolutionising energy: digitisation, decentralisation and decarbonisation.

On-board batteries are the way of the future. Energy storage is the right approach to make energy systems on board ships more intelligent and efficient. Energy storage systems can be especially beneficial on vessels with a widely fluctuating fuel consumption profile. Nidec ASI discuss two recent projects to bring battery storage onto such vessels.

To date, Primary Control Reserve (PCR) has dominated the energy storage debate in Germany with more than 100MW of battery storage installed in 2016 alone specifically for participating in the PCR market. At the same time, with close to 25,000 systems sold in 2016, residential storage has been stealing the limelight in the behind-the-meter segment. Julian Jansen of Delta-ee looks at how his team expects the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment to start catching up.

Each battery storage system is a potential source of danger. An ingenious battery management system as well as high-quality cells are the key to a safe operation. For this you need a lot of know-how. Dr Olaf Wollersheim of Solarwatt talks through some of the main topics and solutions.

Software platforms are emerging as a crucial element in the rapidly expanding energy storage industry. Alex Eller of Navigant Research explains the crucial role software plays in underpinning the value of energy storage systems.

The complexities of combining batteries and solar microgrids are explained by Sam Duby, who is co-founder and director of research and development at mini-grid technologies company SteamaCo Ltd and consults for TFE Consulting. TFE Consulting is a strategy consulting firm focusing on accelerating the energy transition in emerging markets and is active in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America.