Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 7:08 .

Investor Laurent Segalen Discusses the Future of Battery Investments and Challenges in Long-Duration Storage Technologies

Laurent Segalen, an investor focused on the energy transition, recently shifted his investments from solar to batteries. He emphasizes that as an infrastructure investor with a three-to-four-year horizon, he prioritizes cost and return timelines over long-term projections like those for 2030. Laurent critiques engineers for their excellent technical skills but poor pricing abilities. He highlights the importance of immediate financial returns rather than speculative future needs such as net zero goals. Laurent cites examples from Australia and California to illustrate market trends and innovations in battery technology. In Australia, lithium-ion won a tender excluding it for eight-hour storage solutions; in California, 30 companies vied for funding under a mandate favoring non-lithium technologies. He also references industry experts like Jeffrey Chamberlain who question the viability of Long Duration Storage (LDS) due to issues like round-trip efficiency and rapid advancements in lithium-ion technology making LDS economically uncompetitive. Laurent speculates that molecules might dominate long-duration storage solutions given current inefficiencies and costs associated with alternatives like hydrogen gas.

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Speaker

Laurent Segalen
CEO
Megawatt-X
United Kingdom

Talk of session: Long-Duration Energy Storage - What's Holding it Back, When Will it Break Through?

Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is undoubtedly a key enabler for achieving net-zero. However, despite a wide range of technology providers claiming cost competitiveness and other advantages over lithium-ion batteries, the latter continue to dominate new deployments in Europe and elsewhere. So what's holding LDES back? What is needed to enable more widespread adoption? And when will the age of LDES finally arrive?In this panel, experts will provide an assessment of the suitability of LDES for today's market, the barriers that exist and the requirements and likely timeline for LDES to finally become mainstream.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome and Introduction

Speaker

Dr. Oliver Schmidt
CEO
dvlp.energy
Germany

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Susan Taylor

Speaker

Susan Taylor
Senior Analyst
S&P Global

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Julia Souder

Speaker

Julia Souder
CEO
LDES Council
Belgium

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Wilhelm Löwenhielm

Speaker

Wilhelm Löwenhielm
Senior Director ESS
Northvolt
Sweden

To Talk

Perspectives on LDES Jan Andersson

Speaker

Jan Andersson
Director, Global Market Development
Sumitomo SHi FW
Finland

To Talk

Panel Discussion

To Talk

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