Renewable Energy Installer December/January 2017 | Page 18

Opinion

Renewables can get new lease of life from storage

Advertising isn ’ t just for Christmas

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Bill Wright , ECA Head of Energy Solutions
The electrical energy generated by solar started to move ahead of coal during 2016 , a highly symbolic but also practical development . A series of milestones were reached , including the first-ever day , month , quarter and half year , where solar electricity output exceeded that from coal . However , at present most renewable energy generators , such as solar PV and wind , are very variable and any potentially useful energy is lost if it cannot be usefully stored or distributed . There have been far too many occasions when wind power has had to be turned off , as the distribution system has not been able to cope with huge amounts of clean energy .
Fortunately , there is now an increasing awareness of energy storage systems , both at large grid scale and lower commercial scale , which will give renewable energy the capability of supplying a greater proportion of our overall power . Electrical energy storage allows for the smoothing of output , providing clean energy when the peaks of renewable energy supply have passed . As the cost of energy storage falls , the options and finances for ‘ renewables plus storage ’ will increase significantly .
From being a small sector , storage is now set to be a bigger contributor to grid supply as financiers discover that there is money to be made . This can be achieved by installing large scale energy storage and ‘ selling ’ these services to the National Grid and other distributors in the form of grid balancing and demand reduction . Once this gains momentum we should see an increase in installed systems , giving the grid added stability when its supply from generators is becoming increasingly variable . Even smaller consumers should soon start to see the financial benefits of installing storage systems in domestic and commercial premises by storing low cost energy and using this at high cost times . Once this takes place , we may see a revolution away from large-scale generating units to more distributed generators , feeding through a decentralised network . Should the cost of storage fall sufficiently , the generation and use of electrical energy will never be the same again .
The implications of this shift appear to be truly remarkable , and the ECA will be looking to lead the way in 2017 by developing a programme on the opportunities and challenges of the UK ’ s growing energy infrastructure .
Bruce Allen CEO HETAS
This year , the Christmas adverts from leading high street retailers were as hotly anticipated as Christmas day itself . Whether your favourite was Buster the Boxer ( John Lewis ), rainbow coloured yetis ( Argos ) or a talking carrot called Kevin ( Aldi ), the battle of the ads demonstrated an outstanding quality and standard of advertising in 2016 .
Here , Bruce Allen from HETAS , the body recognised by Government to approve biomass and solid fuel heating appliances , comments on advertising in the biomass and wood-burning sector and how it helps HETAS promote their training courses . “ We don ’ t have a Buster or a carrot called Kevin . We do have a very close relationship with the industry and understand what it needs as technology and safe working practice changes . During 2016 HETAS attended numerous industry events including Ecobuild , Hearth & amp ; Home , Installer and Energy Now as well as hosting # HETASLive events nationwide and supporting our sister company Woodsure at the APF Exhibition for the fuel sector Throughout the events a wide variety of topics were discussed with stakeholders from all areas of the industry . One of the most popular topics discussed is training for the installation of biomass and wood burning appliances . We received lots of enquiries about installation training and upskilling , which we found reassuring given the concerns about the skills shortage within the industry , demonstrating to us a general willingness by installers to upskill . So the demand to attend training courses is there . Who to train with ? At HETAS , we developed the basic courses prescribed by the out of date ‘ minimum technical requirements ’ document used by training organisations as a guide to minimum course content a long time ago . It no longer reflects the current industry needs or modern competence requirements for installers . We seek to attract installers onto our training courses who want to do the best and the most up to date job possible . In this respect we are the industry
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