WINCHESTER University welcomes Chris Miles, green energy business leader, for a thought-provoking enterprise lecture on renewable energy on October 5.

In recent years renewable energy provision has increased significantly, with a growing proportion of our energy supply being provided by wind and solar.

However, current systems are unable to cost effectively balance supply and demand. Without the ability to store energy, the intermittency of wind and sun mean that fossil fuel generators are relied on to deal with peaks in demand.

Mr Miles will discuss how energy storage could provide a way forward to balance supply and demand. Reviewing the technologies available, he will explore whether battery storage could be used alongside renewable energy techniques to provide a route to stable, unsubsidised renewable energy.

The talk has been co-organised by Winchester Action on Climate Change. Its executive director, Tom Brenan, said: “There has been much in the news recently about the government’s support for battery storage. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the role that this technology could play in helping to make our energy system more sustainable.”

Chris Miles is the Green Energy Business Leader at Anesco Ltd. Following a succession of international engineering and business leadership roles in the oil and chemical industries, he moved into the renewable energy sector in 2005.

He has held leadership roles in a number of Green Energy businesses including Econergy, British Gas and Renewable Energy Systems. Chris was a board member of the Renewable Energy Association from 2006 to 2014 and holds an MA in Engineering from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD in Paris.

Energy storage: Are Batteries the Key to a Renewable Future? takes place on Thursday October 5 at 6.30pm for 7pm in The Stripe, King Alfred Campus, Sparkford Road.

The event is free and open to the public. Booking is essential. Find out more and book your place at www.winchester.ac.uk/events