The increasing interest in energy storage for the grid can be attributed to multiple factors, including the capital costs of managing peak demands, the investments needed for grid reliability, and the integration of renewable energy sources. Although existing energy storage is dominated by pumped hydroelectric, there is the recognition that battery systems can offer a number of high-value opportunities, provided that lower costs can be obtained. The battery systems reviewed here include sodium-sulfur batteries that are commercially available for grid applications, redox-flow batteries that offer low cost, and lithium-ion batteries whose development for commercial electronics and electric vehicles is being applied to grid storage.

Electrical Energy Storage for the Grid: A Battery of Choices

Overview of current development in electrical energy storage technologies and the application potential in power system operation

Large-scale deployment of intermittent renewable energy (namely wind energy and solar PV) may entail new challenges in power systems and more volatility in power prices in liberalized electricity markets. Energy storage can diminish this imbalance, relieving the grid congestion, and promoting distributed generation. The economic implications of grid-scale electrical energy storage technologies are however obscure for the experts, power grid operators, regulators, and power producers. A meticulous techno-economic or cost-benefit analysis of electricity storage systems requires consistent, updated cost data and a holistic cost analysis framework. To this end, this study critically examines the existing literature in the analysis of life cycle costs of utility-scale electricity storage systems, providing an updated database for the cost elements (capital costs, operational and maintenance costs, and replacement costs). Moreover, life cycle costs and levelized cost of electricity delivered by electrical energy storage is analyzed, employing Monte Carlo method to consider uncertainties. The examined energy storage technologies include pumped hydropower storage, compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheel, electrochemical batteries (e.g. lead–acid, NaS, Li-ion, and Ni–Cd), flow batteries (e.g. vanadium-redox), superconducting magnetic energy storage, supercapacitors, and hydrogen energy storage (power to gas technologies). The results illustrate the economy of different storage systems for three main applications: bulk energy storage, T&D support services, and frequency regulation.

Electrical energy storage systems: A comparative life cycle cost analysis

The past few decades have shown a rapid and continuous exhaustion of the available energy resources which may lead to serious energy global crises. Researchers have been focusing on developing new and renewable energy resources to meet the increasing fuel demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A surge of research effort is also being directed towards replacing fossil fuel based vehicles with hybrid and electric alternatives. Energy storage is now seen as a critical element in future "smart grid and electric vehicle" applications. Electrochemical energy storage systems offer the best combination of efficiency, cost and flexibility, with redox flow battery systems currently leading the way in this aspect. In this work, a panoramic overview is presented for the various redox flow battery systems and their hybrid alternatives. Relevant published work is reported and critically discussed. A comprehensive study of the available technologies is conducted in terms of technical aspects as well as economic and environmental consequences. Some of the flow battery limitations and technical challenges are also discussed and a range of further research opportunities are presented. Of the flow battery technologies that have been investigated, the all-vanadium redox flow battery has received the most attention and has shown most promise in various pre-commercial to commercial stationary applications to date, while new developments in hybrid redox fuel cells are promising to lead the way for future applications in mechanically and electrically "refuelable" electric vehicles.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.3599565/pdf

Progress in Flow Battery Research and Development

The paper reviews different approaches, technologies, and strategies to manage large-scale schemes of variable renewable electricity such as solar and wind power. We consider both supply and demand side measures. In addition to presenting energy system flexibility measures, their importance to renewable electricity is discussed. The flexibility measures available range from traditional ones such as grid extension or pumped hydro storage to more advanced strategies such as demand side management and demand side linked approaches, e.g. the use of electric vehicles for storing excess electricity, but also providing grid support services. Advanced batteries may offer new solutions in the future, though the high costs associated with batteries may restrict their use to smaller scale applications. Different “P2Y”-type of strategies, where P stands for surplus renewable power and Y for the energy form or energy service to which this excess in converted to, e.g. thermal energy, hydrogen, gas or mobility are receiving much attention as potential flexibility solutions, making use of the energy system as a whole. To “functionalize” or to assess the value of the various energy system flexibility measures, these need often be put into an electricity/energy market or utility service context. Summarizing, the outlook for managing large amounts of RE power in terms of options available seems to be promising.

https://research.aalto.fi/files/6557604/lund_et_al_review.pdf

Review of energy system flexibility measures to enable high levels of variable renewable electricity

This guide describes a high-level, technology-neutral framework for assessing potential benefits from and economic market potential for energy storage used for electric-utility-related applications. The overarching theme addressed is the concept of combining applications/benefits into attractive value propositions that include use of energy storage, possibly including distributed and/or modular systems. Other topics addressed include: high-level estimates of application-specific lifecycle benefit (10 years) in $/kW and maximum market potential (10 years) in MW. Combined, these criteria indicate the economic potential (in $Millions) for a given energy storage application/benefit. The benefits and value propositions characterized provide an important indication of storage system cost targets for system and subsystem developers, vendors, and prospective users. Maximum market potential estimates provide developers, vendors, and energy policymakers with an indication of the upper bound of the potential demand for storage. The combination of the value of an individual benefit (in $/kW) and the corresponding maximum market potential estimate (in MW) indicates the possible impact that storage could have on the U.S. economy. The intended audience for this document includes persons or organizations needing a framework for making first-cut or high-level estimates of benefits for a specific storage project and/or those seeking a high-level estimate of viable price points and/or maximum market potential for their products. Thus, the intended audience includes: electric utility planners, electricity end users, non-utility electric energy and electric services providers, electric utility regulators and policymakers, intermittent renewables advocates and developers, Smart Grid advocates and developers, storage technology and project developers, and energy storage advocates.

/pdf/energy-storage-for-the-electricity-grid-benefits-and-market-us8cgapfcp.pdf

Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid: Benefits and Market Potential Assessment Guide A Study for the DOE Energy Storage Systems Program

The Electricity Storage Handbook (Handbook) is a how-to guide for utility and rural cooperative engineers, planners, and decision makers to plan and implement energy storage projects. The Handbook also serves as an information resource for investors and venture capitalists, providing the latest developments in technologies and tools to guide their evaluations of energy storage opportunities. It includes a comprehensive database of the cost of current storage systems in a wide variety of electric utility and customer services, along with interconnection schematics. A list of significant past and present energy storage projects is provided for a practical perspective. This Handbook, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute in collaboration with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, is published in electronic form at www.sandia.gov/ess. This Handbook is best viewed online. iii Rev. 1, February 2015 DOE/EPRI Electricity Storage Handbook in Collaboration with NRECA Revision Log Comments, inquiries, corrections, and suggestions can be submitted via the website www.sandia.gov/ess/, beginning August 1, 2013.

DOE/EPRI Electricity Storage Handbook in Collaboration with NRECA.

This Guide describes a high level, technology-neutral framework for assessing potential benefits from and economic market potential for energy storage used for electric utility-related applications. In the United States use of electricity storage to support and optimize transmission and distribution (T&D) services has been limited due to high storage system cost and by limited experience with storage system design and operation. Recent improvement of energy storage and power electronics technologies, coupled with changes in the electricity marketplace, indicate an era of expanding opportunity for electricity storage as a cost-effective electric resource. Some recent developments (in no particular order) that drive the opportunity include: (1) states adoption of the renewables portfolio standard (RPS), which may increased use of renewable generation with intermittent output, (2) financial risk leading to limited investment in new transmission capacity, coupled with increasing congestion on some transmission lines, (3) regional peaking generation capacity constraints, and (4) increasing emphasis on locational marginal pricing (LMP).

/pdf/energy-storage-benefits-and-market-analysis-handbook-a-study-16x6gwuiit.pdf

Energy Storage Benefits and Market Analysis Handbook A Study for the DOE Energy Storage Systems Program

▪ Abstract This article discusses briefly the status of energy storage technologies and explores opportunities for their application in the rapidly changing US energy marketplace. Traditionally, electric utility energy storage has been used to store low-priced purchased or generated electric energy for later sale or use when energy cost would otherwise be much higher. But deregulation and restructuring in the electric industry, coupled with an expanding portfolio of storage alternatives, may lead to many new opportunities for energy storage, especially within the energy distribution infrastructure, and for maintaining or providing power quality at large customer sites. Small, modular, robust energy storage technologies could be used to solve a range of energy supply and infrastructure-related needs. This article provides quantitative evidence of utility-related energy storage status, benefits, and opportunities.

Energy storage for a competitive power market

The work documented in this report represents another step in the ongoing investigation of innovative and potentially attractive value propositions for electricity storage by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Energy Storage Systems (ESS) Program. This study uses updated cost and performance information for modular energy storage (MES) developed for this study to evaluate four prospective value propositions for MES. The four potentially attractive value propositions are defined by a combination of well-known benefits that are associated with electricity generation, delivery, and use. The value propositions evaluated are: (1) transportable MES for electric utility transmission and distribution (TD plus a generation capacity credit in all years, and (4) electric utility end-user cost management during times when peak and critical peak pricing prevail.

/pdf/benefit-cost-framework-for-evaluating-modular-energy-storage-36asgf2975.pdf

James M. Eyer

Papers

Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid: Benefits and Market Potential Assessment Guide A Study for the DOE Energy Storage Systems Program

DOE/EPRI Electricity Storage Handbook in Collaboration with NRECA.

Energy Storage Benefits and Market Analysis Handbook A Study for the DOE Energy Storage Systems Program

Energy storage for a competitive power market

Benefit/cost framework for evaluating modular energy storage : a study for the DOE energy storage systems program.