Catherine Gras new INES board member
The board of the Initiative Energien Speichern e.V. (INES) has reconstituted itself.
The board of the Initiative Energien Speichern e.V. (INES) has reconstituted itself. In addition to Carsten Haack (Chairman), Peter Schmidt (Deputy) and Michael Schmöltzer, Catherine Gras complements the board team as a newly elected member.
On January 14, 2022, the board of the Initiative Energien Speichern e.V. (INES) was constituted in its first board meeting of the year. Carsten Haack (Trianel Gasspeicher Epe GmbH & Co. KG) was elected as the new chairman of the board and the previous deputy chairman Peter Schmidt (EWE Gasspeicher GmbH) was confirmed in his office again. Furthermore, in the board election for the current two-year term of office at the general meeting in October, the previous board member Michael Schmöltzer (Uniper Energy Storage GmbH) was re-elected, and Catherine Gras (Storengy Deutschland GmbH) was elected for the first time.
As a newly elected board member, Catherine Gras brings her expertise to strengthen the future viability of gas storage facilities: "Hydrogen will play an important role in the energy mix of the future. It needs to be stored in large quantities and in the short term. I see great potential in adapting or expanding existing gas storage facilities to store hydrogen."
The 20th legislative period has begun with the signing of the coalition agreement as the foundation and starting point of the new federal government. Not only because of the governing coalition, but especially against the background of societal requirements, this legislative period will be strongly characterized by the energy transition. The INES board will align the activities of INES with the societal requirements and related energy and climate policy goals of the new federal government.
About Initiative Energien Speichern e.V. (INES)
The Energy Storage Initiative (INES) is an association of operators of German gas and hydrogen storage facilities and is based in Berlin. With currently 14 members, INES represents over 90 percent of German gas storage capacities and around 25 percent of all gas storage capacities in the EU. The INES members are also driving the development of underground hydrogen storage in numerous projects and are therefore among the pioneers of this important energy transition technology.
The members of the initiative are astora GmbH, bayernugs GmbH, Enovos Storage GmbH, Erdgasspeicher Peissen GmbH, Etzel-Kavernenbetriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, EWE Gasspeicher GmbH, OMV Gas Storage Germany GmbH, NAFTA Speicher GmbH & Co. KG, RWE Gas Storage West GmbH, STORAG ETZEL GmbH, Storengy Deutschland GmbH, Trianel Gasspeicher Epe GmbH & Co. KG, Uniper Energy Storage GmbH and VNG Gasspeicher GmbH.