Meet the UT-BMS team
Exploring the policy and regulatory conditions for accelerating long-duration energy storage
The transition towards a climate-neutral energy system requires a rapid expansion of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. While these technologies are essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, their variable nature also creates new challenges for balancing electricity supply and demand. Long-duration energy storage is increasingly seen as a solution for providing flexibility, supporting grid stability, and enabling higher shares of renewable energy in the energy system.
Within the SLDBatt consortium, researchers from the University of Twente's Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS) contribute expertise on the societal, governance, and regulatory dimensions of long-duration energy storage. The team is led by postdoctoral researcher Anieke Kranenburg and includes Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoppe, Dr. Peter Stegmaier, Dr. Frans Coenen, and Dr. Le Anh Long. Together, they bring extensive experience in public governance, socio-technical transitions, energy storage, stakeholder engagement, transition management, and energy policy.
While technological innovation is central to the development of sustainable battery storage solutions, successful deployment also depends on the wider environment in which these technologies emerge. Policy frameworks, regulations, market conditions, infrastructure, and collaboration between public and private actors all play an important role in determining whether promising innovations can move from demonstration projects to large-scale implementation.
The BMS team therefore examines long-duration energy storage from a socio-technical perspective, recognizing that technological and societal developments evolve together. Their research focuses on understanding how technological innovation interacts with existing institutions, regulatory frameworks, market structures, and stakeholder networks. Particular attention is given to identifying barriers and opportunities that influence the development and deployment of sustainable storage technologies.
To generate these insights, the team combines several complementary research activities throughout the project. These include studying the experiences of end users involved in pilot projects, analyzing the broader policy and regulatory landscape surrounding long-duration energy storage, and facilitating dialogue between technology developers, policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholders. By bringing together perspectives from across the energy system, the research aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the conditions needed to support long-duration energy storage.
The findings will contribute both to scientific knowledge and to practical decision-making. Through reports, workshops, policy dialogues, and academic publications, the BMS team will provide insights that help policymakers, regulators, technology developers, and industry partners navigate the challenges associated with integrating long-duration energy storage into future energy systems.
