Four chapters on how ees Europe evolved from a small exhibition alongside Intersolar Europe to become Europe’s largest and most international exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems. Chapter 4 sheds light on how resilience and inventiveness can turn crises into new opportunities.
In 2020, measures to contain the spread of Covid make it impossible to hold exhibitions and conferences. While the storage and solar industries are booming, the exhibition industry, and thus ees Europe, is going through an existential crisis.
But even in this difficult time, things continue: In the series "The smarter E goes digital", Solar Promotion GmbH and conference subsidiary Conexio-PSE start organizing online events, webinars and podcasts featuring specialists from businesses, research institutions and associations in 2020. They collaborate with research institutions and associations to publish studies and expert interviews and thus remain a driving force for the new energy world. But despite all the efforts, it is becoming clear that in the long term, only the successful implementation of real exhibitions can provide a viable financial basis.
The exhibition date planned for 2021 is postponed from June to July and then has to be canceled altogether. But the organizers of The smarter E Europe do not give up and set a new event date for October. The companies that have the courage to participate as exhibitors are richly rewarded: At The smarter E Europe Restart in October 2021, the number of exhibitors is just a third, and the number of visitors is just over half of the number before the pandemic, but they do excellent business after the months-long forced break.
Meanwhile, battery storage systems of all sizes have become firmly established in the market, ees Europe continues to develop and adds another topic: green hydrogen as the key to a renewable energy system is the focus of a three-day lecture program at the Green Hydrogen Forum, which has been part of the ees Europe exhibition program every year since 2021. A separate exhibition area, the Green Hydrogen Forum & Expo, gives more visibility to suppliers of hydrogen and power-to-gas solutions.
Europe's largest and most international exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems can look back on extraordinarily successful exhibition days in June 2023. More than 950 suppliers presented innovations from the fields of batteries and energy storage systems at ees Europe and the accompanying trade shows Intersolar Europe, Power2Drive Europe, EM-Power Europe.
Their high relevance for a renewable, decentralized and digital energy world is reflected in the numbers: the exhibition space of ees Europe more than doubled compared to last year, and about half of the 106,000 visitors to The smarter E specifically attended ees Europe. Scientists, experts and entrepreneurs from around the world also experienced an extensive supporting program of conferences, forums and side events.
The next ees Europe will be held as part of The smarter E Europe from June 19 to 21 at the Munich Exhibition Center - and will celebrate its milestone birthday! Celebrate with us!