The Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation analyses new electricity storage technologies

At a seminar organised in collaboration with the Madrid Regional Government and the Madrid Official Industrial Engineers Association, experts analysed the challenges of efficient and cost-effective energy storage.

The Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation presented the book entitled El Almacenamiento de la Electricidad (Electricity Storage), which details the different electricity storage technologies currently being used today around the world.

Through its foundation, GAS NATURAL FENOSA promotes information, training and increased public awareness on improving energy efficiency and technological innovation in the field of energy.

The Head of the Madrid Regional Government Department of Finance and Economy, Enrique Ossorio, the Managing Director of the Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation, Martí Solà, and the Assistant Dean of the Madrid Official Industrial Engineers Association, José María De Miguel, opened the seminar entitled ‘El almacenamiento de la electricidad’ (Electricity Storage) in Madrid today. The seminar examined the different electricity storage technologies being developed and the technological and economic hurdles that must be overcome in order for them to be effective alternatives.

The day's event was closed by the Director General for Industry, Energy and Mining of Madrid Regional Government Department of Finance and Economy, Carlos López, and the Dean of the Madrid Official Industrial Engineers Association, María-Teresa Estevan, and was attended by over 220 business professionals, engineers, university staff and civil servants from the fields of energy, mobility and the environment.

The Director of the Energy Materials Department of the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and Professor at the Universitat de Barcelona, Joan Ramón Morante presented the book El Almacenamiento de la Electricidad (Electricity Storage) published by the Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation. The book examines the different electricity storage systems that are being developed around the world and the impact these technologies have on the efficient and competitive development of smart power networks, electric vehicles and renewable energy.

The Assistant Director of the GAS NATURAL FENOSA Hydraulics Unit, David Alejandro, detailed the main characteristics of pumped storage hydroelectric power plants and stressed that they are currently the only effective storage system in existence thanks to their flexibility, large capacity and ability to adapt to supply and demand.

GAS NATURAL FENOSA's Director of Technological Innovation, Manuel Calvo, described the systems allowing for energy storage leveraging the gas system's own storage capacity (“power to gas”). It involves generating hydrogen from water and electricity, and with previously captured CO2 that has been converted to synthetic methane, injecting it into the gas network as hydrogen or synthetic methane.

The second half of the seminar dealt with the development of different types of batteries. Javier Sánchez, Sales Director for SAFT BATERIAS, presented technology solutions based on solid electrolytes, lithium-ion batteries, which use the high capacity of lithium (the lightest element after hydrogen and helium) to travel through an organic electrolyte and to be included in a crystallographic electrode network.

The head of the IMDEA Energy Electrochemical Process Unit at the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies, Enrique García – Quismondo, described the main characteristics of liquid electrolyte batteries, also known as redox flow batteries, which feature a container outside the electrode system where the battery's power and capacity energy are independent from each other. This enables the configuration of systems better adapted for their application and to increase, if necessary, their storage capacity.

Lastly, the head of Technology at Albufera Energy Storage, Paloma Rodríguez, presented the latest technologies in batteries, such as metal-air batteries. These batteries' anodes are made from commonly available metals with high energy densities, such as aluminium, zinc and lithium, that free electrons when they oxidise. Their greater mass and energy volume mean they are a clear alternative for the future.

The Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation

The Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation, founded in 1992, targets its activity at the promotion of information, training and increased social awareness on improving energy efficiency and technological innovation in the field of energy while respecting and protecting the environment, and promotes cultural activities through the Gas Museum aimed at preserving and spreading knowledge about the historical and cultural heritage of the sector. Its international operations take place in Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Morocco, Italy and Moldova.

Madrid (Spain), 17 Feb 2015

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