Energy Storage and Its Enabling Role in the Energy Transition

Energy Storage, a system that captures energy at one time and stores it for later use, is seen to be a crucial part of the backbone enabling Energy Transition.

To join the global conversation on Energy Storage, we invited Shannon O’Rourke, Chief Executive Officer of Australia-based Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC).

(This interview with Shannon was first published on TechnologyCatalogue.com. You can view the full interview here.)

Shannon O’Rourke is the Chief Executive Officer of Australia-based Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC). Prior to joining FBICRC, Shannon was with Woodside Energy for more than 14 years. He was General Manager for New Energy at Woodside Energy, where he founded the company’s Hydrogen, Carbon and Carbon Capture and Storage Businesses. He also has over 10 years of combined experience at Chevron and Diamond Offshore.

How important is the role of Energy Storage (ES) in the Energy Transition? How huge is its potential to accelerate Energy Transition?

Energy storage is essential to enable an energy transition. Most renewable generation technologies are both intermittent and seasonal, which means that energy storage is essential to supply reliable energy when it’s needed. It’s essential that the world starts to deploy energy storage at scale to enable the net zero transition.

The opportunity for energy storage is huge. In a net-zero world, the IEA forecast that energy storage will account for 70% of all renewable energy expenditure, eclipsing the investments in wind, solar and hydrogen.

In terms of potential to accelerate the energy transition, maybe I can give an example which is close to home. In Western Australia, we have one of the highest penetrations of rooftop solar in the world (39%). So high that the government has introduced measures to curtail residential production. More energy storage is essential to enable greater amounts of intermittent and seasonal renewables on the grid; without it, the energy transition stops.

What are the industries/sectors essential to ensure Energy Storage will realise its full potential? And which countries would you consider are major players for these industries/sectors?

Batteries, as one class of energy storage, rely on a range of industries. Mining, Mineral Processing, Chemical Production, Materials Production, Manufacturing, Installation and Servicing. Batteries are supported by power equipment which includes industries that manufacture power electronics, silicon ingot production, chip manufacturing, electronic components, assembly, switchgear. Energy storage needs this broad array of industries to reach its potential.

China, Japan, South Korea are major players in the midstream industries, but Europe, the US and Australia are targeting an increased market share.

Read the full interview here.