Making Northeast Ohio the nation’s leader in energy storage innovation and workforce is the topic of a Wednesday workshop sponsored by Youngstown State University.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Energy Storage Workforce and Innovation Road Mapping Workshop is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 30.

The virtual workshop is being held in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, BRITE Energy Innovators, and Team NEO to discuss the future of work for the energy storage industry in the Northeast Ohio region.

Dubbed "Voltage Valley" by local leaders, the Mahoning Valley is already home to GM and LG Chem's joint venture Ultium Cells LLC which will manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, as well as Lordstown Motors which plans to make the all-electric Endurance pickup truck.

The YSU Division of Workforce Education and Innovation, Oak Ridge, and BRITE have been commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to identify what is possible to make Northeast Ohio the leader in energy storage workforce and innovation through the development of a National Energy Storage Workforce Training and Innovation Center pilot.

According to the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity,  the amount of electricity that can be generated is relatively fixed over short periods of time, although demand for electricity fluctuates throughout the day.

Developing technology to store electrical energy so it can be available to meet demand whenever needed would represent a major breakthrough in electricity distribution.

Helping to try and meet this goal, electricity storage devices can manage the amount of power required to supply customers at times when the need is greatest, which is during peak load. These devices can also help make renewable energy, whose power output cannot be controlled by grid operators, smooth and dispatchable.

The workshop is part of YSU's work with DOE to research, inform and guide the industry on sustainable national workforce strategies for energy storage.

In addition to discussing occupations and training programs needed to support the region as a center for energy storage technology, participants will talk about the research and development needs of academic researchers and national labs

The workshop hopes to determine factors for creating a successful national energy storage training and innovation center in the region, as well as the need to expand the supply chain for energy storage manufacturing.

For more information on the YSU Division of Workforce Education and Innovation, visit www.ysu.edu/workforce.