[Live @ Supercluster] #5: Microgrids, storage, and the grid bottleneck with Simon Belka (Shifted)

🌊 Simon Belka on fixing the grid.

Why long-duration storage and microgrids may define the next energy system.

We’re joined by Simon Belka, Co-Founder of Shifted Energy, a long-duration energy storage startup building compressed-air systems for the decentralized grid.

In this episode, we dive into one of the biggest paradoxes in clean energy: we’re producing more cheap renewable electricity than ever, yet still burning gas because the grid can’t move or store it fast enough.

In our conversation, we covered:

→ Why grid congestion, not renewables, is now the real problem

→ How microgrids work (and why they’re a €135bn market)

→ Why batteries fail beyond ~6–8 hours of storage

→ Inside Shifted Energy’s compressed-air “air battery”

→ How long-duration storage competes with hydrogen and thermal systems

→ Early traction: microgrids, mines, logistics hubs, and off-grid sites

→ The economics: efficiency, CapEx, and levelized cost of storage

→ What it takes to scale from 100 kW pilots to megawatt systems

→ Why Europe is uniquely positioned to lead this transition

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