Energy storage technology brings economic, reliability and environmental advantages to an electric power grid. Such storage technologies include pumped hydro storage, batteries (lithium-ion and flow), compressed air systems, flywheels and hydrogen storage tanks.
Home and commercial electricity consumers alike can install an energy storage system (ESS) to help reduce demand charges and avoid utility peak pricing during high-demand periods. Furthermore, this ESS can also be integrated with community solar and renewable projects to form microgrids and resiliency hubs.
Resilience
Resilience is the practice of developing the capacity to cope with unexpected events and crises, and finding sustainable ways of living within Earth’s boundaries.
Science of resilience is an expanding area. Researchers are developing and testing innovative approaches for understanding complex systems and their responses.
Importantly, resilience has different definitions among different people. While some may naturally possess this characteristic and be adept at handling obstacles without much difficulty, others must work harder to strengthen their resilience and develop it further.
One way to build resilience is through cultivating social connections and identifying individual strengths, learning from experiences, and welcoming hope. At the Making Energy Work event, panelists Matt Abele (NC Sustainable Energy Association) and Will Heegaard (Footprint Project) highlighted the significance of clean energy resiliency – specifically how centralised power systems are more vulnerable than distributed resources like solar panels and batteries to supply disruptions.
Electricity Storage
Energy storage systems (ESSs) for electricity provide numerous grid services such as frequency regulation and demand response, both large- and small-scale. Their technologies include rechargeable batteries, flywheels, compressed air tanks, superconducting magnets, underground pumped storage facilities and hydrogen generation systems.
These technologies are integral components of renewable energy expansion as they provide the means to smooth the output from wind and solar plants that supply inherently variable electricity to the grid. Furthermore, ESS also enables renewables to avoid curtailment when their generation exceeds power demand or transmission line capacity limitations.
At a consumer level, behind-the-meter battery storage can significantly lower end-user demand charges during evening peak hours and enable participation in utility demand-side management programs. Furthermore, this storage can help homeowners and businesses optimize their solar PV installations; similarly at microgrid scale, ESSs are being integrated into microgrids that serve a specific geographic region or customer base.
Microgrids
Microgrids not only offer resilience, but can also support local economies through providing jobs related to construction, operation and maintenance.
Energy storage’s resiliency benefits have come under increased scrutiny since SuperStorm Sandy hit in 2012 and many Americans found themselves without power for two weeks. At that time, some buildings like hospitals, police stations, and grocery stores were surprisingly unaffected.
These buildings may utilize microgrids, smaller grids that serve a particular geographic area such as a college campus or downtown district, and incorporate renewable energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines, battery storage capacity, fuel cell generators or gas-fired generators, as well as battery energy storage and an island mode switch when there is disruption on the main electrical grid. This functionality is particularly helpful in remote locations where accessing main electrical infrastructure may be impractical or unavailable altogether.
Community Energy
Community energy refers to electricity and heat production on a local scale – in a village, city or neighborhood – by engaging local groups as project leaders while inviting others to become involved in its implementation.
Energy storage makes renewable energy available during periods of high local demand for consumption – when it is most needed – helping avoid fossil fuel peaker plants that often reside near low-income neighborhoods and cause pollution and health concerns.
Local community energy storage (CES) refers to smaller battery systems installed behind individual homes or buildings to provide active power when needed, and backup power during outages. When combined with solar, CES allows greater penetrations of wind and solar into the grid, as well as helping smooth their output over time. Local CESs may utilize different battery technologies including electric vehicles (EV) batteries as well as thermal (ice) storage or even pumped hydroelectric storage technologies.