Energy storage technologies can make renewable energy more viable by charging when there is excess wind or solar generation and discharging when demand peaks – maximising their use.
Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) have become an increasingly popular way of storing solar electricity for use at homes, businesses and utilities. Other storage technologies include compressed air energy storage (CAES) and mechanical gravity storage.
It Can Help Achieve High Levels of Renewable Energy
Energy storage is key to reaching high levels of renewable energy on the grid, as it provides grid services like power-frequency regulation and voltage regulation. Storage solutions like batteries or pumped-storage hydropower (which uses reservoirs’ natural uphill/downhill cycles to store/release water) can also help meet peak demand when solar production drops but demand rises, such as in summer afternoons when production drops but demand surges; this helps shift generation so as to meet this peak demand without needing fossil fuel peaker plants that are costly to operate and often located near low income communities that exacerbating air pollution issues/other negative public health impacts in these overburdensed areas.
The Future of Storage study by the MIT Energy Initiative confirms that energy storage is necessary in order to achieve decarbonization through high penetrations of variable renewable energy resources. The research was funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Heising-Simons Foundation and will form part of their ongoing series exploring critical issues in energy and the environment.
It Can Help Smooth Out Demand
Energy storage makes renewable resources like wind and solar more practical and reliable by smoothing their variable production outputs. Combining renewables like wind and solar with battery storage enables these intermittent resources to be stored up during sunny or windy periods and then released back onto the grid at times when demand peaks – saving both resources from being disbursed back onto iterative cycles of use and reuse.
Energy Storage offers grid services currently provided by fossil fuel peaker plants that run during brief times of high electricity demand, such as heat waves. Unfortunately, these plants tend to be located near low-income neighborhoods and produce air pollution which has serious repercussions for public health.
Energy storage can also help alleviate peak demand by enabling customers to adjust their electricity usage, create microgrids and provide backup power during blackouts. Furthermore, energy storage allows electric vehicle charging as well as optimizing energy usage in industrial and commercial settings.
It Can Help Communities Resilient to Natural Disasters
Energy storage can be an indispensable element of disaster resilience. It helps communities protect against the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters caused by climate change while keeping critical services such as hospitals, emergency shelters and communication networks operational.
Battery energy combined with solar can ensure a continuous supply of renewable electricity during local power outages, thanks to automatic changeover panels which switch seamlessly between grid power and backup battery electricity.
Energy storage not only protects against blackouts but can also aid communities to become more resilient to extreme heat events and storms by relieving stress from the electricity system and shifting peak demand to off-peak times, but it can also enable renewable integration, microgrid time shifting, time shifting and provide backup power for homes and businesses alike.
It Can Help Low-Income Communities
Energy storage can make a more affordable future more accessible for everyone, especially LMI communities where power bills represent a substantial part of household expenses and cause energy insecurity. Without reliable access, people with disabilities may not be able to use medical equipment or heat and cool their home properly; home batteries offer an effective solution already on the market today.
Energy storage devices can help improve energy security in households that live further from the electrical grid, particularly rural communities, which may be more susceptible to blackouts due to their remote location.
States and municipalities can employ innovative financing mechanisms such as bond finance, community-based ownership structures and green banks in order to increase energy storage adoption among low-income communities. Furthermore, incentives should be created that support behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage technologies that help bring cleaner and more affordable energy into these areas.