Affordable, efficient and grid-scale energy storage is the key ingredient needed to allow renewable energy to displace fossil fuels, especially in power generation.
Overview
This module presents details on two energy storage solutions popular today: Grid-Scale Batteries and Pumped Storage Hydropower.
It includes the following topics:
The basic concepts of Energy Storage Management
What a battery is and where batteries are now used
Grid-Scale Battery Storage – its importance, operation, market outlook and challenges
Similar data on Pumped Storage Hydropower – currently the largest form of power Operational and Environmental challenges of the current ESM options
Introduction
Energy storage is not new.
Batteries have been around since the early 1800s, and the first use of the pumped storage hydro technique was in 1907 in Switzerland.
Modern technologies now enable high levels of renewable energy to be integrated with the grid.
Energy Storage Management, or ESM, is the term used when matching the flexible capacity from a power storage system to a variable customer demand – anywhere on the grid.
Unlike conventional power generation, like coal, gas and nuclear, renewables face the problem of service interruption or variability, called intermittency.
This problem is caused by a lack of wind, or sunlight, and insufficient water levels.
To solve the intermittency problem and improve grid reliability, the power sector has developed several solutions, including:
Use of standby natural gas-fueled peaking power plants, and
Inter-connecting local grids with neighboring grids
But another solution is to invest in some form of energy storage for the produced power.
Batteries are rapidly becoming a less expensive economic option to store energy for daily needs.
We will begin our discussion with the basic concepts of Energy Storage Management, or ESM.
Energy Storage Management – Basic Concepts
The primary goal of ESM is to maintain the stability of power supplied to the grid for both base load and peak load periods – like the evening summer air conditioning load.
There are four load management methods used in any power storage system, including:
Improving grid reliability by reducing renewable energy variability caused by lack of wind, sun or rain.
Providing peaking or reactive power to replace gas-fueled power plant emissions.
Load-leveling is when grid operators charge batteries during periods of excess generation, and discharge the batteries during periods of excess demand.
Arbitrage is the term (taken from the financial industry) for charging storage when energy prices are low and discharging it during more expensive peak hours.
We will continue our ESM discussion with grid-scale battery systems.