DEIJ Show Floor Sessions at RE+

Wednesday, Sept. 13 | 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM

The energy sector overall has long been a male-dominated industry. We are seeing more women enter the workforce, and believe it is important to have equal men and women working together to reach our net-zero goals. Decarbonization is not a gendered, geographically-constrained, nor diversity differenced issue - it is something that we need to all work toward for success. In this session, we will share success stories of women in energy storage, and ask women in energy overall to share their stories and how we can inspire more women to join our work.

Speakers:

• Julia Souder, CEO, Long Duration Energy Storage Council

Wednesday, Sept. 13 | 3:00 - 3:30 PM

To keep up with the pace of expected energy storage growth in the coming years, the industry has to overcome an energy storage talent shortage, especially among engineers. It will take a combination of training, recruitment, and outsourcing to bring the energy storage workforce into an even keel with the solar workforce and meet the demand for labor that’s only become more urgent since the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act.  This session will examine three ways that developers, EPCs and IPPs can get their organizations up to speed with energy storage expertise — and will provide actionable insights you can take back to the office and implement with your team. 

1) Recruitment — how to compete for and win (and retain) key personnel in a highly competitive labor market. 

2) Training — the steps needed for bringing existing renewables teams up to speed on ESS codes and standards, technology selection, risk mitigation, and other areas of knowledge that qualify engineers to work on energy storage systems. 

3) Outsourcing — what kinds of knowledge and services are available by partnering with a third-party provider for energy storage expertise that can guide you through each life cycle step from sourcing and project design to commissioning.

Speakers:

• John DuPont, Vice President of Business Development and Operations, Borrego Anza

Wednesday, Sept. 13 | 5:00 - 5:30 PM

760 million people live without electricity, but building a grid or advancing off-grid electricity isn’t economically viable in underdeveloped countries, namely due to the cost of lithium battery solutions. Those same people are disproportionately impacted by fossil fuel emissions and their associated negative effects on public health. Similarly, with current batteries accounting for up to 45% of the cost of an electric vehicle – and rising raw material prices poised to keep pushing battery costs higher – EVs remain too expensive for many consumers compared to their gas-powered counterparts. It is true that lithium-ion batteries have dropped approximately 97% since their market emergence 30 years ago. Despite this seemingly drastic cost reduction, affordability remains a significant barrier to adoption—especially for large grid storage installations.  

Existing battery-powered solutions continue to be adopted by those who can afford them. As deployments rise, we’re witnessing an increasing number of headlines detailing instances of lithium-ion batteries catching fire, resulting in physical injury, respiratory health impacts, and even death. Ultimately, if energy cannot be stored safely, electrification and renewables do not work—especially in rural or economically disadvantaged areas that lack the people, equipment, and infrastructure needed to effectively manage large-scale lithium battery fires.  

In this session, Alsym Co-Founder, President and CEO Mukesh Chatter will discuss the various challenges with lithium-based battery technologies including cost and safety. Chatter will then present a blueprint for how the globally electrified future will be driven by a new generation of affordable and safe energy storage technologies. Increasing accessibility for energy storage technologies will be essential, because tackling climate change requires everybody’s contribution, not just the population that can afford luxury EVs and the nations that can afford robust grid and off-grid electricity. The clean energy future requires everybody’s contribution.

Speakers:

• Mukesh Chatter, Co-Founder and CEO, Alsym Energy