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Grid Energy Storage Technologies: Technology Benchmarking and Stakeholder Analysis
Frost & Sullivan, Dec 2010, Pages: 60
This research service provides insights on various technologies that facilitate grid energy storage. The research also includes an assessment of key stakeholders in the domain and how they impact developments and initiatives in the domain.
Research Overview
This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Grid Energy Storage Technologies: Technology Benchmarking and Stakeholder Analysis focuses on the evaluation of various energy storage technologies, industry initiatives, and technology benchmarking of energy storage technologies. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following technologies: pumped hydro-electric systems (PHES), compressed air energy storage (CAES), thermal energy storage, fuel cells, electrochemical batteries, flow batteries, photovoltaics (PV), wind energy, and flywheel.
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Technology Overview
Ability to Respond to Sudden Fluctuations in Load Popularizes Grid Energy Storage Technologies
Electricity storage technologies are an effective response to daily fluxes in electricity demand, as they can provide power to the grid to bridge gaps in supply and demand and smooth out short-term fluctuations. Electricity produced during off-peak hours can be stored and used later to meet demand spikes, thereby reducing the need for expensive, aging, and relatively dirty fossil-fired reserve generation plants. The demand for energy storage technology is expected to rise after 2015, as they can ease the variability and dispatch unused electricity when needed. Reliability, consistency, and scalability are some of the critical factors that will determine the popularity of such technologies in future. Their success will also encourage greater research in renewable energy generation such as solar and wind power, since grid energy storage has the potential to facilitate the large-scale deployment of these variable renewable electricity generation sources.
“However, wind power only produces electricity proportional to the wind speed and similarly, photovoltaics produces solar power only when the sun is shining,” says the analyst of this research. “As operators of the electricity grid must constantly match electricity supply and demand, this makes variable renewable resources more challenging to incorporate into the electricity grid than traditional base-load.” The biggest opportunity as well as challenge for energy storage technology developers is that the device must respond rapidly to the demand for contingency reserves. Frequency regulation is another challenge in technology development, as it necessitates continuous changes in output, frequent cycling, and fast response. Once developers find a solution to these issues, the technology’s potential can be harnessed for application in many energy storage devices.
Based on factors such as R&D and production, PHES has emerged the top-rung grid energy storage technology, closely followed by CAES. When the demand for electricity is high, CAES releases high-pressure air underground, making it ideal for load-leveling operations. Further, its scalability, relatively low capital costs, and long discharge capability make it the second most preferred energy storage technology. “The need of the hour is developing and marketing energy storage devices for grid energy storage that will generate early revenue streams, cultivate investor confidence, as well as build consumer awareness and acceptance,” notes the analyst. “The growing demand for energy and the widening gap between energy supply and energy production could help investors and OEMs to venture into alternate and renewable energy storage technologies.”
Application Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:
- OEMs
- Universities
- Research laboratories
Technologies
The following technologies are covered in this research:
- Pumped hydro-electric systems (PHES)
- Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
- Flow batteries
- Thermal energy storage
- Electrochemical batteries
- Photovoltaics (PV)
- Wind energy
- Flywheel
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