I write this a week on from the Energy Storage Summit in London. A 2-day conference where 1,500 prominent figures and leaders in the Energy Storage sector came together to network and share insights on the current status and future direction of the sector, particularly in Europe.

Aside from the wonderful networking opportunities (the free beers are always welcomed!), there were also some great takeaways from the event, which I wanted to share here.

Now a word of warning, if you're looking for detailed policy / market financials data, then you'll be disappointed (plenty of those out there I'm sure!). As an Executive Search Consultant, I focus more on macro trends in the Storage market, as these will have the most impact on companies' team growth plans in 2024 and beyond!

1. The Opportunity is now for LDES

Long Duration Energy Storage got a lot of spotlight at the event,  given the recent “Cap & Floor” Scheme proposals. Generally the proposals were welcomed, as it is seen as a great way to promote commercial opportunities for 6 hour+ duration technologies. However, there are clearly some details to be ironed out during the ongoing consultations, particularly around technology selection criteria (min of 50MW projects which some argue is too high a bar) and the exclusion of li-ion batteries which is causing some heated debates. 

Given we work with a number of LDES start-ups, I'm eagerly awaiting the final proposal announcements on this topic!

2. Still optimism for the UK and healthy appetite for international markets

There were concerns going in on the outlook for the UK BESS market, given revenue drops in H2 2023. Now oversaturation and grid connections cannot be ignored, there was generally a bullish mood amongst those I spoke to. There are now numerous new market opportunities and ancillary services available for batteries, and the fall in returns seem to have been factored into company's strategies for 2024 and beyond. The T-1 capacity market results gave encouraging signs with high proportions of low-carbon technologies included!

The UK was not the only focus of the event. I took in some wonderful talks around the promising market evolutions in German, Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Greece - not to mention the US! It really makes for an exciting few years for maturing international storage markets.

3. Battery Passport planning is already here

On day 1, there was a lot of emphasis on new EU Battery Regulations to encourage domestic supply chains in the ESS sector along with the updates on the impending Battery Passport introductions in 2027 and beyond. Amongst those I spoke to, it seems like most battery suppliers are already well on their way to meeting their targets, well in advance of the proposed dates. I spoke to a close contact of ours at Hyperion, who also highlighted that many of the Asian Tier 1s are already establishing production and supply chain operations in EU as we speak!

3. The need for accurate data and more of it! 

I really enjoyed the discussions on how critical data analytics are for owners and asset managers in battery storage. In some cases, data around SOC and degradation is inaccurate and this then leads to challenges when trying to accurately maximise the value return of assets.

The ability to combine and utilise collective data from financial markets, technical data from site monitoring, and O&M insights, is absolutely critical for predicting future cash flows and asset valuations. 

I recently shared insights on the role of digitalisation in Energy Storage so it was great to here this is echoed by industry leaders.

5. There is a fierce battle going on for great talent 

The final and most important takeway for me. So many of the battery leaders I spoke to shared their challenges around hiring at the moment. Hyperion CEO shared his insights here. Given the market opportunities, every company is hunting the same talent and this is driving crazy levels of competition and a candidate-driven market can lead to inflated package expectations. In particular there seems to be challenges in design and engineering, project delivery and asset management, and O&M. 

We shared our insights on considering talent from adjacent segments of the energy sector but also the value of working with a specialist search firm like us, Hyperion, where we headhunt the best talent and don't just share candidates who are considering 2, 3, 4 opportunities at one time!

I lead the Energy Storage practice at Hyperion Executive Search. We help battery and ESS clients to build their senior and executive teams but also find specialist “first boots on the ground” talent in emerging countries. If you're building your team, and need specialist support, then contact me at david.beeston@hyperionsearch.co.uk