| Energy storage
use during peak times. Additionally, with the flexibility afforded by the system, the site aims to participate in grid services by trading stored electricity, and through vehicle-to-grid services via the 40 bi-directional EV chargers. Once in operation each pack is monitored and controlled remotely 24/7. As the peak power requirements of an EV are much more demanding than what is required of stationary storage, the packs are charged and discharged at a rate about three to four times lower than in peak EV use, making for gentler operation and lower degradation.
Power can also be rebalanced across the system to minimise the batteries being subjected to a prolonged high state of charge, thereby increasing efficiency overall.
Data from the packs, including operating temperature, charge, efficiency and exception alerts, are analysed to assess the system’s health and machine learning is used to identify anomalies, trends and relationships between the variables. The results inform real time operation to enhance performance as well as identifying preventative operation and maintenance strategies to optimise the system. The data is also
used to update the models and assumptions to improve future systems and business cases. Finally, the OEM’s original battery management system remains in use too – the same system that is trusted by millions of EV users to get their families and goods from A to B – to ensure continued safety.
The future of second life batteries The forthcoming introduction of the Battery Passport in the EU in 2027 will go some way to improving the data available from batteries, with statistics on performance and durability expected to be made available that will support better decision making at the end of a battery’s first life. The industry is also likely to experience a move away from transactional relationships as the EU Battery Regulation Amendment begins to have an impact. With the goal of achieving sustainable battery lifecycles, battery manufacturers will be increasingly interested in novel ways to extend battery lifecycles, particularly given the current lack of battery recycling facilities that is impacting the supply chain UK and EU-wide. This could see battery manufacturers increasingly working collaboratively with stationary storage providers,
potentially retaining ownership of their batteries and receiving a revenue from their use. As a market for second life batteries develops, we are likely to see increased engagement from large fleet owners, who will be interested in maximising the value that they can get from the sale of their batteries by balancing use and degradation.
The potential for using second life batteries in stationary storage is hugely exciting, with the next five years set to see a significant increase in the volume of batteries reaching the end of their first life along with the benefits of a more supportive policy environment. Offering a comparable alternative to new batteries, second life storage helps to solve several of the UK’s key energy challenges all at once; from the need for grid storage to support greater renewables penetration and improve energy security to providing additional power capacity to support the electrification agenda.
Over the past decade, Connected Energy has developed the technologies needed to exploit this opportunity and is now poised to scale up, supported by new industry partnerships, finance and business models.
On the up: US utility-scale battery power
The total installed power of US utility-scale battery energy storage systems has been growing dramatically in recent years, according to data and analysis from the US Energy Information Administration. In the first seven months of 2024, operators added 5 GW to the US grid, compared with 4 MW added in 2010.
As of July 2024, more than 20.7 GW of total battery power was available in the United States, the US EIA estimates.
Among the support services provided to the grid by batteries, the US EIA lists the following: balancing of supply and demand; arbitrage; and allowing electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, to be stored until needed instead of being curtailed at times when they produce more electricity than is consumed. Most US utility-scale battery energy storage systems use Li-ion batteries, the US EIA notes. It also says that its data collection defines small-scale batteries as being less than 1 MW, with small-scale battery data reported separately from utility-scale battery systems. The US market growth is of course not lost on battery makers. Responding to the US boom, Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, has, for example, commissioned a new line at its Jacksonville factory in Florida to produce lithium-ion battery containers. This investment enables Saft to address the burgeoning demand for energy storage projects by offering battery storage systems with domestic content, as required by the Inflation Reduction Act 2022. “Currently, we are successful in serving the US market using battery containers produced by our global factories overseas. Now our strategy to expand Jacksonville’s capacity to reach more
than 5 GWh in 2027 will enhance its capability to provide a faster response to serve US customers and reduce our environmental footprint. At the same time, this will also incrementally increase local content by building up our US-based supply chains,” said Hervé Amossé, Saft EVP for Energy Storage Systems. “Saft will reach the Inflation Reduction Act 2022 requirements with its 5.1 MWh containers by 2026”, he added. According to Bloomberg the US is the second largest and most mature energy storage system
market in the world (after China), with 2023 being a record year that saw 22 GWh of energy storage deployed. The US market is expected to reach a cumulative 134 GW and 484 GWh in 2030, suggests Bloomberg.
Since delivering its first US energy storage project, in Alaska in 2003, Saft has also delivered other major US projects such as the Myrtle and Danish Fields utility scale solar-power-with- storage facilities in Texas, each exceeding 200 MWh of storage.
Cumulative US utility-scale battery power (2010–July 2024) (GW)
10 15 20 25
0 5
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Data source: US Energy Information Administration, early release 2023 Annual electric generator report (for annual data 2010–23) and US EIA July 2024 electric generator inventory (for July 2024 data)
Note: Annual data are end-of-year operational nameplate capacities at installations with at least 1 MW of nameplate power capacity
Jul 2024: 20.7 GW
www.modernpowersystems.com | September 2024 | 33
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