POWER March 2023 - 22

ENERGY STORAGE
New Technologies,
New Sites Supporting
Growth of Energy Storage
Advancements in energy storage, including new battery types and longer-duration
batteries, are driving innovation in the sector. Retired power generation plants are
being repurposed as storage sites, and the residential and commercial and industrial
(C&I) sectors are turning to storage for electricity reliability and resilience.
Darrell Proctor
T
he U.S. and global market for energy
storage continues to grow, in large
part aligning with increased deployment
of renewable energy facilities. Battery
energy storage systems (BESS),
which store the energy from solar arrays,
wind farms, and more, are being used to
help balance the power grid, and provide
more reliability and resiliency, along with
other ancillary services.
Colin Touhey, CEO of Pvilion, a developer
of innovative fabric-based solar
power equipment and whose customers
include the U.S. Air Force, told POWER,
" Energy storage will become ubiquitous
as an integral part of the grid. This growth
will continue and will only slow when all
potential grid options are saturated. "
What has been touted as the " Energy
Storage Decade " by industry analysts
and others has lived up to that billing, despite
hiccups caused by the coronavirus
pandemic and associated supply chain
issues. The global battery energy storage
system market was expected to increase
from $3.36 billion in 2021 to $4.34 billion
in 2022, representing year-over-year
growth of about 29%, according to a
January 2023 report from Research and
Markets, a global market research group.
The report said growth in the sector is
expected to top $11 billion in 2026-or
total growth of another 150% in the next
four years.
Energy storage, whether from batteries,
pumped hydropower, thermal systems,
or other technology, is benefiting
from the move toward the electrification
of transportation, along with an emphasis
on electrification of the commercial
and industrial, as well as residential,
sectors.
" Energy storage is the foundation
from which all renewable-sourced decarbonization
efforts must be built, " said
Matt Clenchy, analyst with Orennia, a
technology company that provides data
and analytics on the energy transition
for investors. " Renewable energy is intermittent
... because of this, high levels
of renewable penetration can threaten
grid reliability, so grid operators rely on
energy storage to shift energy to peak
demand hours. For renewable energy
to meaningfully displace baseload fossil
fuel generation, it must be deployed
alongside storage. "
Ryan Brown, CEO and co-founder
of Canada's Salient Energy, said, " The
growth in energy storage will definitely
continue. Energy storage is critical to integrating
large amounts of wind and solar
power into the grid. " Brown, whose
company develops zinc-ion batteries for
stationary energy storage, told POWER:
" Governments have set aggressive targets
for renewable penetration that will
only be possible with significant investment
in energy storage. I believe these
targets will be taken seriously for two
main reasons. First, the increasing occurrence
of extreme weather is making
climate change an increasingly important
issue to everyday people. Second, Russia's
attempt to weaponize the EU's [European
Union's] dependence on its natural
gas has caused lawmakers to view the
transition to renewable energy as critical
to national security. So, the growth
in energy storage will continue because
it is driven by issues that are becoming
increasingly important and urgent. "
1. The Waratah energy storage facility is being built in Australia at the site of a former coal-fired
power plant. It is expected to come online in 2025. Courtesy: Powin
22
www.powermag.com
New Battery Tech
New battery technologies are being deployed
for both economic and safety
reasons, with energy company executives
telling POWER that alternatives to
lithium-ion will be needed to satisfy the
increased demand for storage.
" The 'Decade of Energy Storage'? This
is the Energy Storage Era! " said Josef
Daniel-Ivad, manager of the Zinc Battery
Initiative. " Stationary energy storage capacity
is forecast for 1.2 TWh by 2030
and a mind-boggling 9 TWh by 2050.
To meet this high demand, we need all
types of sustainable, scalable batteries. "
" Building owners and operators are
POWER | March 2023

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POWER March 2023

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