A renewable-powered future will need energy storage

(This article is written by Jonathan Radcliffe Senior Research Fellow,

Energy Storage at University of Birmingham)

The way we generate, transfer and use energy is changing, and our energy

systems and infrastructure have come under increasing pressure to cope.

Black-outs strike where we would expect reliable supplies, energy costs are

rising, pushed up by fossil fuel prices and the expense of renewing ageing

electricity infrastructure. As the proportion of energy generated from

renewables like wind, wave and solar power rises, part of the solution to such

intermittently generated energy is technology that can store the energy until it

is needed.

Professor Richard Williams has explained why energy storage is needed,

and how this was now being recognised by policymakers. Practically, the

concept of “energy storage” varies considerably in how much energy can be

stored for how long, and can be achieved through chemical, mechanical,

thermal or electromagnetic methods.

The applications for energy storage have become apparent as nations' energy

systems undergo radical transitions. The reasons behind these changes are

diverse: climate change mitigation policies have led to widespread use of

renewables, in Europe especially. In rapidly expanding economies such as

China, the priority is to meet rising demand.

In many developing countries, improving and expanding electrification is the

goal. In the US, improving the resilience of the electricity grid to extreme

weather events has become paramount, to prevent another hurricane

Sandy knocking outmuch of New York City’s power grid, for example. All

these examples require substantial change to energy systems, whether that’s

the electricity grid, how energy is generated, or other elements. In each case,

energy storage is an attractive technology that can reduce costs and improve

efficiency.

The most developed form of energy storage is at the shortest timescales, such

as for maintaining the quality of electricity supply within strict frequency

standards. Flywheels – rotating discs – can absorb and release energy very

quickly making them ideal. Losses are low; they can spin up and down

countless times without affecting performance. The total energy flywheels can

store is also low, so their use is limited to a matter of minutes – enough to

provide the quick response required if there are rapid changes due to the

interruption of energy generation – from a drop in wind, for example.

Storing energy over a number of hours is very competitive. The arbitrage of

energy from times of over-supply (when the wind blows at night when there

are few energy consumers, for example) to peak times can be provided by

many technologies.Pumped hydro storage is where water is pumped to a

high-level reservoir using off-peak electricity, which can then flow back

downhill via a turbine to generate electricity. With four such facilities in the

UK, including Dinorwig in Snowdonia, and may other s around the world,

this is the current dominant technology: it is well-tested and reliable, and able

to store and bring online vast quantities of energy, quickly. Of course, it’s

limited by the availability of high lakes or reservoirs.

Large batteries, which store and release energy through electro-chemical

reactions, have been widely demonstrated. They can operate over short time

scales, but are able to hold larger amounts of energy. New battery chemistries

such as Li-ion have been improved by their use in cutting-edge electric

vehicles. But they are still expensive, and can degrade after rapid charge and

discharge cycles.

When it comes to storing large amounts of energy, the need to add

considerable capacity at low cost is key. Compressed airenergy storage

systems store energy by compressing air, in containers, or in very large

volumes in underground caves or chambers. The technique either relies on

the right geology, or suffers from low energy density that limits above ground

capacity.

If this compressed air is instead liquefied, it vastly increases the energy

density. Called cryogenic energy storage, this has been tested in the UK,

building on mostly established industrial techniques. The efficiency can be

increased by recycling the heat and cold that is released as the air is

compressed or expanded. Rather than cooling, at the other end of the

temperature scale is an experimental method of storing electricity by heating

gravel beds using heat-pumps. With a heat engine to recover the energy

and convert it to electricity when needed makes this a potentially efficient

process.

Energy storage need not be on an industrial scale, it can also be stored in

domestic properties. Heat, for example, can be stored for use as space or

water heating. New materials whose physical properties change with

temperature, called phase-change materials, can increase the amount of

energy stored in a volume compared to hot water cylinders. By minimising

their energy needs, better domestic energy storage means individuals can

play a significant role in balancing the ebbing and flowing of energy demand

nationwide.

Another important part of any future infrastructure is the capacity to transport

energy over long distances for storage or immediate use. The concept of

a supergrids linking remote renewable energy resources (for example, wind

turbines in blustery Siberia) to areas where there is demand, such as cities

perhaps hundreds or even thousands of miles away. For exmaple a supergrid

connecting countries around the North Sea, across Asia and North Africa has

been suggested. This is attractive in principle, but there are significant

difficulties that will require new transmission technologies, including subsea

connections. And that’s before one considers the task facing policymakers

and regulators of integrating different energy infrastructures, regulatory

systems and markets.

The challenge is to explore precisely how and where energy storage can

create a more efficient energy system over the coming decades. Everyone in

the sector will need to work together to develop the technology that delivers,

and put in place a regulatory regime which turns the concept into a

commercial opportunity for the private sector.

(This article is from The Conversion, dated 11th September 2013)