The Australian Solar Council joins with several stakeholders and launches a new industry body for the energy sector as it tries to engage more electric utilities.
According to the PV-Tech website, the newly formed body will be named the Australian Energy Storage Council.
This new body will be co-founded by the Australian Solar Council and will be headed initially by John Grimes, the current ASC head. “Too often the energy sector ignores emerging technology trends and is blind-sided when they are deployed widely,” says Grimes.
According to the PV-Tech report, the council hopes to bring companies together and encourage standardizations across the energy storage industry. “That is why one of the first things the Energy Storage Council will do is to focus on developing standards and protocols for embedding energy storage into the energy network,” Grimes continues.
Aside from acting as the chief of the council, John Grimes will also seek to establish links with the energy storage developments around the world. “Energy storage brings exciting new opportunities for the energy industry and the energy consumers,” adds Grimes.
What does this mean for the Industry?
“Deployed wisely it can significantly bring down electricity costs and make the electricity network more robust, flexible and reliable,” Grimes continues. “The time is right for this organization to be developed in its own right and it will be guided by its membership and the needs of the energy storage sector beyond solar applications,” adds Grimes.
Funding for the council will come from its membership, industry events, and training activities which will be governed by a volunteer board. The Energy Storage Council envisions a greater responsibility because of the broad applications for energy storage.
By being responsible for the creation of industry standards and ensuring that the best practices are followed in the industry, the council will have a great impact on the domestic energy storage linked with solar PVs, electric vehicles, and large scale on grid solutions for the utility sector.
The board members of the council are composed of Steve Blume, President, Glen Morris, Vice President, Paul Scerri, Secretary, Anthony Sachs, Treasures, Dr. Bill Parker, Barbara Elliston, Geoff Bragg, Lucas Sadler and Gabrielle Kuiper.
The Energy Storage Council represents several companies in the energy sector. They include equipment providers, utilities, technology manufacturers, project developers, industry leaders and consultants. It aims to establish local and global industry linkages in this growing sector.
In other developments
It was announced that the Australian Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition will be moved from Melbourne to Sydney by next year and will be scheduled on June 3 to 4.
The event will focus on the latest cutting edge energy storage technologies, and will also include zones such as “Lighting and Building Automation” and “Emergent Business Technologies”. This will provide trade visitors the most comprehensive energy solutions for their businesses.
The 40 speakers slated to give their addresses at the conference will focus on the ways by which energy storage is shaping our world, specifically in the areas of transport infrastructure, private and commercial buildings as well as in the grid and off-grid levels.
