FEATURE SPONSOR
INNOVATION
HOW INNOVATION IN ENERGY STORAGE CAN HELP ATTRACT RENEWABLES FUNDING
Amid the varying energy policies and mixes across governments around the world, it’s broadly accepted that renewable energies such as wind are a medium-term, low-carbon and potentially cost-effective alternative energy source.
However, when projects are implemented in isolation from storage, the old barriers of renewables intermittency prevail. Unlike a power plant, you cannot simply turn on a wind turbine when there are peaks in energy demand. In the absence of energy storage, wind energy captured but unused at that moment in time is effectively wasted.
SOLUTION
The solution to this inefficient system is energy storage, which can store energy when the wind is blowing and release it when it is not, as well as manage the flow of energy during periods of peak demand. Additionally, by investing in storage we can defer spending on power stations, upgrading cabling and infrastructure and put an end to situations, in Scotland for example, where wind energy operators are asked to power down their turbines when generating more power than the system can handle.
THE OPPORTUNITY Traditionally the cost of energy storage technology was inhibitive for mass implementation and the technology itself was still in its infancy. However in recent years, thanks to bodies like the UK Low Carbon Network Fund, British companies are being given the opportunity to demonstrate their technology innovations, consequently, we have seen the cost of storage technology reduce as it matures.
CHALLENGES AND THE FUTURE It is clear that at a grid level, energy storage can deliver a number of opportunities and benefits. Yet, one of the main problems holding back investment in storage is a lack of knowledge sharing between the four key stakeholders: generators, transmission system operators, distributors, and supply companies. With each part of the chain only responsible for a narrow segment, it’s hard to put a ‘value’ on efficiency as the efficiency gains are split four ways.
Such barriers are not unique to energy storage; however we are confident that with the technology becoming more mature, cheaper and being increasingly adopted around the world, adoption will advance.
Andrew Jones Managing Director S&C Electric Europe Ltd.
Furthermore, a raft of studies have highlighted the benefits of energy storage at different price levels for different energy mixes and growth. For example, an Imperial College energy storage report found that the UK could make system savings of more than £10 billion per year by 2015, if it can develop 15GW worth of storage by then.
CHANGE IN POLICY? One way to solve this would be for a change in policy to make electricity storage a separate market category from generation, transmission, distribution and supply. Fortunately, The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has called upon S&C and other organisations in our space to help to determine electricity storage’s value to the UK thereby encouraging this market category distinction and pre-empting concerns from utilities about the risk of unproven options and a lack of financial incentives.
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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