Press release, Berlin, November 24, 2009

Experts from 22 countries discuss on storage of energy from the renewable source

EUROSOLAR and the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) hosted the fourth International Renewable Energy Storage Conference (IRES) on 24th and 25th November 2009. Nearly 400 experts from Germany and abroad came together at the Berlin Representation of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia to discuss about available techniques and technological advancements made in the storage of energy generated from renewable sources. As in previous years, the conference was being held in association with EnergyAgency.NRW.

"The advances made in storage technology are more marked than is generally supposed”, said EUROSOLAR president and general chairman of the WCRE, Hermann Scheer. "Storage systems become increasingly powerful and cheaper too. They open up new markets for Renewables and accelerate their entry worldwide." Norbert Hüttenhölscher, head of EnergyAgency.NRW, considers “the goal of energy autonomy a political, technological and economic concept worldwide. The point is now to overcome the impediments to the spread of renewable energy. Optimising storage technology however is pivotal for advancing the use of renewable energy," said Mr Hüttenhölscher.

One focus of this year’s conference was to address decentralized energy generation and storage in buildings and residential areas and the effects on energy flows and markets. The numerous examples showcased at the IRES covered the technological range of electrochemical storage for stationary and mobile power applications with lithium ion, redox flow and sodium sulphur batteries as well as heat storage systems to achieve high solar fraction and effective use of waste heat. The speakers came from Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and other countries.

In October 2006, EUROSOLAR and the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) had acted as host at the first of a new international conference series intended to contribute to the developments in energy storage and to publicize their application. Following the success of the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 events, the conference will take place for the fifth time next year. The venue and time are expected to be in Berlin in the second half of November again. Initial information and the new call for papers will be released at the beginning of 2010.

The conference documentation will be available on CD-ROM in the next few weeks and can be ordered from the EUROSOLAR website. Shortly, all participants will receive the details to access the conference documentation online.

For more information please visit www.eurosolar.org and www.energieagentur.nrw.de. Contact persons: Valentin Hollain, tel. +49 228-362373, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Oliver Weckbrodt, EnergieAgentur.NRW, tel.+49 202-2455220, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.