Seamus Garvey is full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nottingham. Since 2005, his research has focused primarily on thermo-mechanical energy storage methods and how these can accelerate the decarbonisation of energy and reduce its cost. He was one of the pioneers of underwater storage of pressurised gas and undertook testing in 2010-2011 on this proposition that garnered significant attention at the time. In 2014, he co-founded an international conference series called Off Shore Energy and Storage (OSES) that has now run 9 times and its tenth instance will be in Delft in July 2026.

In 2016, he co-founded an energy storage company now trading as “Keep Energy Systems” whose product is a modular energy storage system combining the storage of pressurised air in tanks and heat in packed beds. Garvey was one of the earliest proponents of the idea that “Medium Duration Energy Storage” (MDES) should be recognised as being distinct from “Short Duration Energy Storage” (best managed using batteries) and “Long Duration Energy Storage” (with continuous discharge times exceeding 200hrs) that are best handled using fuels of various sorts.

He leads a task addressing MDES within the IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Energy Storage. He contributed strongly to the Sept. 2023 report published by the Royal Society called “Large Scale Electricity Storage” has written three book chapters on energy storage. He is also a strong proponent of “Generation-Integrated Energy Storage” wherein exergy can be held in storage prior to the generation of electricity – just as has always been done in conventional electricity systems ever since they were first created.