Meet the Team: Sharon Zhang | OWC London
At OWC, our teams are constantly expanding into more locations, in expertise, and in sectors of influence. Our people are at the heart of what we do, and we invite you to get to know our team members so you can meet the energy behind change.
This week, we caught up with Sharon Zhang, a Senior Consultant within our Energy Storage team!
Position: Senior Consultant
Office: London
Describe Your Role in Three Words: Interesting, Fast-Paced, Challenging
Favourite Book: It changes frequently – but it’s currently In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Hobbies Outside of Work: Travelling and Sport (Basketball and Touch Rugby)
Can you tell us a bit about your journey into the energy storage sector? What first sparked your interest in this field?
I studied renewable energy engineering at university, a decision driven by a love for maths and science and a passion for sustainability and the energy transition.
I spent the first couple of years of my career focussed on solar PV and gradually transitioned into energy storage through various projects and job opportunities. It’s a really interesting field and is really important to support a clean energy future.
What do your day-to-day responsibilities involve?
Each day is a mix of working on projects and proposals/business development, as well as supporting team management and process improvement activities. On the project front, my focus is mainly on technical due diligence, feasibility studies, fire strategies etc, which involve project management, drafting and reviewing reports and proposals, and managing clients.
What are some of the biggest challenges in scaling up energy storage solutions?
Energy storage projects face similar challenges to other renewable energy projects in terms of lengthy and complex grid connection and planning processes, uncertainty in market revenues, etc. Grid connection is particularly challenging for projects at the moment with the ongoing grid reforms and uncertainty around what this means for projects in terms of connection queue positions and the associated impacts on costs and connection works. Further, concerns around fire safety can make obtaining planning permission challenging if not considered appropriately in the early development phase.
How do you see the energy storage sector evolving over the next few years?
We are beginning to see more governments around the world holding storage auction rounds and introducing more incentives for battery storage, including in countries with less developed BESS markets where storage is needed to provide reserve capacity. So, I’m expecting to see BESS markets mature and grow globally and for battery durations to increase. Whilst lithium-ion batteries have dominated the market for a while now, we may see a growth in market share of emerging battery technologies such as sodium-ion batteries.
Finally, what’s been your favourite memory working within OWC to date?
Travelling down to Brighton for 2024’s Christmas party and spending time with the rest of the onshore renewables gang! Highlight was our team (of 7 at the time) trying to squeeze into a photobooth for a team picture!
