On 23 March 2023 the StoRIES coordination team of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) organised the StoRIES – FLORES – EERA JP ES Workshop on Applications for Hybrid Energy Storage in Karlsruhe. The workshop was part of the 3-day event "Energy Conversion and Storage Days" with a focus on energy storage and photovoltaics.

Researcher of the StoRIES eco-system, the EU-funded projects HyFlow, Hybris and DualFlow (all members of the FLORES network) and the EERA JP ES discussed with other interested stakeholders current and future applications for hybrid energy storage and provided input for the first draft of the roadmap created in the StoRIES project.

In the 1^st morning session moderated by Myriam E. Gil Bardají (StoRIES coordination team and coordinator of EERA JP ES, KIT), top-class speakers from the European Commission, industry and research were setting out the European agenda on hybrid energy storage and presented their view on these technologies and their future demand. Joachim Knebel, Head of Division Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of KIT and representative of the Helmholtz Association in the EERA Executive Committee welcomed more than 100 participants from 14 countries in Karlsruhe. Afterwards, Stefano Passerini (KIT/Sapienza University of Rome), coordinator of the StoRIES project gave an overview of European initiatives working on hybrid energy storage including the EERA Joint Programme Energy Storage, the StoRIES project and the projects HyFlow, Hybris and DualFlow, all members of the FLORES network while Magdalena Graczyk-Zajac from Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) discussed challenges of grid connected storage. Balazs Jozsa (DG Energy) and Johan Blondelle (DG Research & Innovation) from the European Commission showed recent commission policy developments on energy storage and challenges and opportunities for energy storage in Europe followed by a talk of Antonio Marco Pantaleo and Francesco Matteucci, both programme managers of the European Innovation Council, about research and innovation trends in mid to long duration energy storage. In the last presentation of the session, Roberto Scipioni (SINTEF Energy Research), leader of Task 3.3 in the StoRIES project dealing with the development of the StoRIES roadmap and Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for hybridization of energy storage talked about enabling R&I breakthroughs to support a world-class European research and industrial ecosystem on hybrid energy storage and presented the structure of the StoRIES roadmap.

In the 2^nd morning session, representatives of companies of different storage technologies and integrators provided industry view on potential applications and future markets during a panel discussion moderated by Peter Fischer (Fraunhofer ICT, initiator of the FLORES network) and Christina Schubert (former project manager of HyFlow, now Voith Group). Magdalena Graczyk-Zajac (EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Energy provider, DE), Joseph Epoupa Mengou (Eni Spa (Energy provider, IT), Sebastian Pohlmann (Skeleton, Supercapacitor producer, EE), Thomas Lüth (Voith Group, Pumped storage, DE), Michael Pinzl (CellCube, Redox Flow Battery producer, AT) and Kourosh Malek (FZ Jülich, hydrogen, DE) discussed about the potential of hybrid energy storage and what applied science can do to reduce the costs but also to overcome barriers and hurdles that prevent the deployment of hybrid energy storage systems.

After lunch, the participants visited STAGE76, an innovative student residence, where KIT has realised a hybrid storage system consisting of a lithium-ion battery and a redox flow battery. The flow battery from the company 1^st Flow has a new composition of vanadium electrolyte that can be used as heat storage, formulated by Fraunhofer ICT. The demonstrator was developed within the project BiFlow. The second visit was to the HyFlow demonstrator at Fraunhofer ICT. The demonstrator of a virtual inertia with a 2MW wind turbine connected to a 1MW supercap and a 300kW/1.5MWh redox flow battery coupled via a DC link was developed by KIT, the company Freqcon and Fraunhofer ICT.

In the last session of the day, participants discussed in the following four groups different applications for hybrid energy storage in terms of their potential for current and future markets. 

1. Grid applications for long-duration energy storage (> 8 hours)
2. Grid applications for short-term storage and ancillary services
3. Smart solutions for mobility
4. Off-grid / energy islands

The results of the group work were presented by the rapporteur of each group and Olga Sumińska-Ebersoldt (StoRIES coordination team, KIT) introduced the 3^rd StoRIES Transnational Access (TNA) Call, which was opened in April 2023. After the closing remarks by Alexandra Lex-Balducci (StoRIES coordination team, KIT) and Peter Fischer (Fraunhofen ICT) a get-together with snacks, music and a social match-making event for Horizon Europe calls rounded off the workshop.

The workshop was the first opportunity for partners from EU-funded projects and initiatives working on hybrid energy storage to exchange ideas. This enabled new networks to be established and existing ones to be expanded and strengthened. The StoRIES eco-system was able to make many new contacts and received valuable suggestions for the roadmap. The strong participation of representatives from the industry (more than 20% of the participants), the European Commission, and the European Innovation Council was particularly valuable. After the event, many representatives of the FLORES community and industry expressed their strong interest in participating in the StoRIES external layer and accessing the research infrastructures in the frame of the StoRIES TNA programme.

If you would like to learn more about the StoRIES please check our webpage and our LinkedIn profile and if you are interested in joining the StoRIES eco-system contact us via eera-jpes@bl3.kit.edu.