BEAMA CEO Howard Porter: “We see Building Based Energy Storage as a natural extension of our well-established expertise in membership representation across many technology sectors that rely on system integration, connectivity and communication protocols.” – Dr Howard Porter & BEAMA
BEAMA, which is the leading trade association representing manufacturers of electrical infrastructure products and systems, says that it will establish a new membership group in January 2016. This will complement the organisation’s already well-established work programme for manufacturers of connected homes and smart grid technologies. By James Hunt:
Energy storage is starting to become a crucial element of the energy infrastructure of the future, right down the energy supply chain, up to and including the building, which is the reason for BEAMA’s new plan.
The organisation says that its Building Based Energy Storage Group is being launched to prepare the market for a future energy system that will be increasingly dominated by variable, low carbon energy sources (solar, wind and tidal) requiring a significant degree of energy supply flexibility.
This energy storage infrastructure will be discrete and standalone storage technologies, as well as products having an inherent storage potential. Included will be long-established but modernised technologies, such as heating and hot water storage having smarter operation and various household appliances, as well as more recent ones, such as electric vehicles (EVs), plus novel control strategies.
Other energy storage systems include battery-based equipment, flywheels and super capacitors, though some of these are more suited to larger or grid-scaled energy storage, rather than building-based, and will not necessarily be covered by the new Building Based Energy Storage Group.
Most such energy storage technologies have the potential to support future system integration. However, says the Carbon Trust, ‘the potential value storage brings to the system, and therefore its cost targets, are poorly understood to date’.
Supporting the energy infrastructure
Commenting on the move, BEAMA CEO Dr Howard Porter said: ”The role of energy storage is to support the energy infrastructure as the share of both variable and local generation increases, which will create challenges for balancing supply and demand.
“Mainstream electro-technical manufacturers are joining specialist niche companies to develop building based offers for storage, which is an exciting prospect for an increasingly decentralised energy system here in the UK,” he said.
Porter added: ”BEAMA is very well placed to take on this challenge and help storage equipment manufacturers deliver propositions for a growing market both in the UK and overseas; the organisation has already taken the smart metering, smart grid and connected homes story to energy and utility shows in Aberdeen and Vienna, and in the next six months will be expanding this reach into the Middle East and India.
He continued: “We see Building Based Energy Storage as a natural extension of our well-established expertise in membership representation across many technology sectors that rely on system integration, connectivity and communication protocols. We’ve already received lots of positive interest.”
BEAMA’s move has been welcomed by other organisations, including Green Energy Options ((http://store.greenenergyoptions.co.uk), which provides smart, connected energy displays and heating solutions to help users take control of their energy use.
Green Energy Options’ CEO, Patrick Caiger-Smith, said: “Energy storage could be a vital and significant contributor to us getting value from the massive investment future energy networks need.
“For this potential to be realised we will require changes to be introduced to market structures, regulations and technical standards, and BEAMA has shown itself to be very successful at representing is members in shepherding these types of issues forward in an increasingly complex and integrated business environment,” he concluded.
The new Building Based Energy Storage Group is also seen by BEAMA as being ‘very much in tune’ with the aims of the organisation’s own Smart Grid Task Force.
For more information about membership, email Les.Woolner@beama.org.uk
Voltage optimisation systems guide
In more BEAMA news, the organisation’s Power Quality Group has published a guide on voltage optimisation (VO) systems. This is because there is much in the electrical industry that involves the infrastructure of the electrical network from generation, transmission to the point of use.
With many new products types and technologies introduced to meet the demand for enrgy management and control, it is important that the quality of energy supplied is maintained. This guide explains it all. You can download it from: http://www.beama.org.uk/resourceLibrary/beama-voltage-systems-guide.html
