RENEWABLE ENERGY
COST-EFFECTIVE
Alan Greenshields discusses the technology behind iron-flow batteries
A
s the world transitions to renewable energy, long-duration energy storage (LDES) is the last piece of the clean energy puzzle to finally enable the
retirement of fossil energy generation. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are inherently intermittent. Although this does not pose an issue for the grid in small quantities, when renewable energy penetration exceeds 25%, energy storage becomes critical to manage intermittency and maintain grid stability. LDES systems provide storage durations beyond the typical four-hour Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery in use today, providing control, reliability and capacity to enable
CLEAN ENERGY
renewables to provide dispatchable baseload energy. Today, power generation accounts
for roughly one third of total emissions worldwide. Although renewable energy sources have grown in recent years, the grid still requires fossil fuel generators to provide power when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow. Conversely, during periods of excess wind and solar generation, these resources are curtailed, wasting valuable clean energy. Te deployment of LDES could eliminate between 1.5 to 2.3 Gt of CO2
annually by utilising clean
energy that would otherwise go to waste, and its deployment could enable fully renewable energy-based grids by 2040.
LDES SYSTEMS LDES is not a new concept, but it has yet to be widely adopted. Te first LDES technology, pumped hydro, has been in use for over a century but requires suitable geography to be effective. Pumped hydro systems move water between reservoirs at different elevations to store and produce energy, pumping water uphill when energy is plentiful and using gravity to generate energy when needed. More recently, Li-ion battery systems
Inside ESS’ battery production site 24
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have been deployed to provide grid energy storage, but these are best suited to shorter durations. At longer durations, Li-ion technology quickly becomes cost- prohibitive. Fortunately, there are a number of emerging technologies that can provide LDES cost-effectively and without geographical constraints. As these
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