Accelerating Energy: Powering Business Through the Energy Transition
Welcome to Accelerating Energy, a new podcast powered by Sidley Austin LLP. Join us as we drill down on critical, and late-breaking, energy transition topics from all corners of industry. Each episode will introduce you to guests with unique perspectives as we investigate the business, legal, and policy concerns of this fast-evolving landscape.
Accelerating Energy is hosted by Ken Irvin and Cliff Vrielink, partners in Sidley’s global Energy practice.
Accelerating Energy: Powering Business Through the Energy Transition
Taking Charge: Can Battery Energy Storage Systems Unlock the Full Potential of Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy can be intermittent, making it a challenging power source for power grid operators to manage. But the burgeoning technology of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is poised to help fill those critical gaps. BESS is expected to quintuple in capacity by the end of this decade. These systems play a crucial role in the renewable energy life cycle, ensuring a stable supply of electricity to customers, data centers, the national grid, and energy needs worldwide. But the installation costs for some large-scale systems are high, along with a number of maintenance and environmental issues to consider.
In the fourth episode of Accelerating Energy, Pat Wood, CEO of Hunt Energy Network, a developer and operator of distributed energy resources in Texas, talks with host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin. Pat, the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under President George W. Bush and of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, discusses what’s in store for battery energy storage systems and how industry stakeholders can offset the barriers to their wider use.