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Richard discusses his role and involvement with regards to the battery energy storage, industry challenges and developments, what he is looking forward to at the event and why it is important for engineers to attend.
Q: Please briefly explain your role, involvement and experience with regards to battery energy storage
Richard Dawson (RD): At LiNa Energy we are developing sodium metal chloride cells and battery modules suitable for a wide range of electrification applications including energy storage. As the CTO my responsibility is to provide technical oversight of the development programme as we bring our technology to market. We are continuing to develop our cell technology and moving towards increased scale.
Q: What is the top challenge facing your industry at present?
RD: We see that supply chain and reliance on critical raw materials particularly in the conventional Li-ion space as being a significant challenge which is only going to get worse. This can be seen at present in the limited availability of Li-ion cells for developers.
Q: How would you say your industry has evolved over the past two years?
RD: We are seeing the market growing hugely in the UK but also very significantly overseas where there is an increased emphasis on medium to longer duration storage solutions.
Q: What developments are going on in your industry that may have an impact on the development of future battery energy storage solutions?
RD: We have heard first hand that although energy storage developers wish to be technology agnostic, this is no longer possible as increasing consumer and investor consciousness demands complete and transparent supply. This need for diversification of technology and sustainable supply chains is critically important. It is exciting to see sodium based cell technologies getting increased traction as major developers such as CATL embrace alternatives to conventional Li-ion.
Q: What will you be presenting at the Battery Energy Storage 2023 seminar and how will this benefit participants?
RD: The talk will present an overview of the LiNa cell technology, the demonstrations of the technology made to date including some of the unique safety benefits. Discussion of the route to scale up will be made.
Q: Which other speakers and presentations are you looking forward to hearing at the forthcoming seminar?
RD: I will be very interested to hear the mix of technology solutions available as well as the experience of those deploying technologies at scale.
Q: Why is it important for engineers and industry to come together at this event and share best practice?
RD: Seminars are a great way to keep up to date with current thinking and technology in a particular sector. The associated networking is a great way to get to know people in the field. Continuing professional development is a critical part of being a professional engineer.
Battery Energy Storage 2023 will be taking place on 25 April at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester.
Join this seminar to:
- Gain insight into government and industry support for battery energy storage and plans to develop the technology further to increase grid flexibility
- Discuss current and future demand for energy storage in the UK and battery energy storage’s role in future energy systems in order to plan your energy storage strategies
- Learn about the cutting-edge developments in stationary battery energy storage chemistries and materials to increase capacities and capabilities of your own systems
- Hear lessons learned from the latest battery energy storage projects and applications to take back to your organisation
- Be a part of a discussion around the future of energy storage covering supply chain, investment and capacity challenges
To book your place, please visit the event website.