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By Doug Peeples

SGN News Editor

 

Energy storage is generally considered a critical tool for integrating intermittent renewables into the electric grid and maximizing their value. The wind doesn't blow constantly and the sun doesn't shine all the time, and neither cooperates with peak demand. As a result, the quest for reliable, practical solutions has boomed and grid-scale storage is coming into its own.

 

But do we really need it? Panelists at the Smart Energy International conference in San Francisco this week shared some perspectives we don't hear often during a discussion on using energy storage to get the most out of renewables initiatives.

 

KEMA's Rick Fioravanti, VP for storage applications and support, said he is seeing "excitement across the board" about storage for renewables. In addition to consulting, KEMA also conducts certification and testing. It recently opened its Smart Grid Interop Lab for the specific purpose of testing smart grid technologies in simulated real-world conditions.

 

Fioravanti said storage is a definite plus for renewable energy in several ways. It can accommodate the impact of intermittent energy sources and it can be used as a "mitigating and excluding tool." In the U.S., he said, a lot of people are preparing for the day when the nation's energy portfolio includes 20-30% renewables, underscoring the value of having a mitigation tool to manage it.

 

Also, for distribution utilities, storage is protection against buildup on feeders. He added that while renewables developers tend not to look at storage unless they need to, he contended that they will need to if they're going to make their projects practical and economical.

 

His boiled down argument for why storage is essential for renewables? Grid operations and integration, protection for utilities and a means for developers to get connected to the grid and generate income.

Next page: Another way of looking at it

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Storage

Count me among those who think storage could be useful, but not at any price, and of course, that's the rub. Storage costs range from not cheap to very expensive, and as this weekend's bankruptcy filing by Beacon Power suggests, not even government loan guarantees can bridge the gap between what storage costs and what it's worth. I was a stakeholder reviewer for a report on storage sponsored by the California Energy Commission. Among other things, it surveyed the state of the art and current research. One of the clear conclusions is that many of the most promising technologies still have technical hurdles to overcome. Another is that most of them are too expensive, and the ones that are within the realm of being cost-effective are not mature (CAES), or are suitable in a limited number of places defined by specific geographic or geotechnical features (pumped storage and CAES). The report also pointed out that large-scale rollouts of promising but immature technologies would likely be a waste of money until they are at a more advanced stage of development. Jack Ellis, Tahoe City, CA

Jack Ellis - 10/31/2011 - 10:52

Low Cost Energy Storage

It seems that the lowest cost for energy storage would be to couple the generation output of variable renewable resources to existing large hydro facilities. A renewable generation ramps up or down, the hydro unit could be ramped down or up to maintain a firm schedule for the coupled resources. The stored energy is retained water behind the hydro unit, subject to minimum water release schedules and reservoir storage capacity. Picture Hoover Dam as the storage system to firm schedules for Mojave Desert solar, San Gorgonio and Tehachipi Pass wind farms

Steve Lafond - 11/01/2011 - 13:13

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