Five things to look out for at the Energy Storage Summit 2023

Burges Salmon will be attending the Energy Storage Summit on 22 and 23 February. With just under a week to go, we have been planning how best to use our time. If you would like to meet up whilst we are there please do reach out. In the meantime here are five things we are looking forward to:

1. Funding Since we advised on the first UK battery debt financing back in 2019, many projects are now attracting debt financing. We’ve been advising and talking with funders and borrowers on a variety of projects with thinking evolving on how this might be re-structured to account for larger 200MW+ projects that are coming to market. We hope to continue that conversation at the ESS so that we can translate the insights we gain directly into our further work and advice.
2. The view from overseas According to the event website, we will be rubbing shoulders with exhibitors and attendees from 28 countries, representing investors, developers, technology and service providers, policymakers and, of course, law firms. We’ll be listening with interest to their views and experiences. What can we learn from other markets? Which countries will be developing their storage capacity in coming years?  We are already advising internationally and really looking forward to hearing about the exciting pipeline of projects.
3. A glimpse of what's coming With sessions on LDES and new technologies, as well as an exploration of how all the new projects that are getting built will actually connect to the grid, we expect to come away with a clearer idea of the potential storage solutions, regulatory developments and market changes which will see us through the clean energy transition.  
4. Supply chain insight Demand for critical battery minerals is only going to keep growing. In recent times, we’ve seen supply impacted by pandemic, war and geopolitical developments. We’re looking forward to hearing attendees’ thoughts on which supply chains are most at risk and what safeguards we can be building in at the point of contract to help manage and mitigate those risks. Wednesday looks to be the day for those interested in supply chain management with some really knowledgeable speakers and moderators participating in the Supply Chain, Lithium-ion & ESG track. We are also interested to share experiences on recent tweaks to procurement structures with BESS projects making up a substantial amount of our work in energy and also talking to procurement processes that we are involved in on larger projects. 
5. Freebies! Everyone loves a promotional item, right? And there is no such thing as having too many pens. Of course, given the audience, we’ll be hoping that all the giveaways are sustainably sourced.