engineering society
eye-contact
March 2014
Solving the energy storage challenge: technology and innovation at E.ON One of the key challenges of the transition from traditional to more sustainable energy sources is the lack of storage opportunities for renewable energy. Innovative concepts in this field are the so called “power-to-gas” and “power-to-heat” technologies, as well as various battery technologies, which can be used to store excess renewable energy and use it when demand arises. Gerbert van der Weijde, Technology & Innovation Manager at E.ON´s Innovation Center for Energy Storage, in Germany, is very familiar with these technologies and describes how he is part of this journey.
What is your area of expertise? I currently work as Technology & Innovation Manager at E.ON´s Innovation Center Energy Storage. Over the past five years I have been working on understanding the role new technologies play in our industry, subsequently demonstrating the most promising innovations in concrete projects and developing the capabilities E.ON needs to make good use of these concepts in its businesses.
Please describe some of the projects you are currently working My colleagues and I are responsible for setting up and coordinating E.ON’s activities related to energy storage. This includes batteries from household scale (refrigerator size) to grid scale (container size), power-to-gas and power-to-heat / heat storage. My focus is on providing the commercial perspective on these activities: understanding how we can best generate revenues with the various technologies; identifying and evaluating concrete business opportunities; setting up projects with partners within and external to our organisation.
// Power-to-gas unit in Falkenhagen 13