Is #EnergyStorage commercially viable at #utilities and #grid level?

Dr. Rajasekar thanks for sharing this. Interesting at they are using Lithium Titanate here? But why ? Is that for faster charging? Generally what I have heard is that these batteries are good for transport application but at grid level you either need good energy density or longer discharging period

Short answer is no.

Yes, in pumped storage hydro plants.
Any other technology, no.

I wouldn’t consider a 2 MW battery on the 11 kV system as grid level storage. Show me a 1000 MW pumped storage facility on the 345 kV and I’ll sit up and take notice.

Thanks Stuart, your answer resonates with many other industrial experts I spoke to. Only a few are optimistic that ESS at grid level can do wonders, at least for cases where charging costs are nil or the batteries are substituting expensive fuels like diesel. I am not sure about the profitability calculations here.

Hi, Harsh and All
Recently spoke to GE Power and Water here in Australia. They are developing storage solution but they said realistically it is still 4-5 years away. Technical information is not available yet.

Thanks

Many studies and pilots ongoing. A utility in the state of Washington in the USA has had 10mw scalable battery banks in a few substations for about a year now. They say the results are promising, but it is not something that utilities seem to be able to justify right now. Other utilities in the USA are doing pilots as well.

It might be surprising, but the main reason for utilities in our region being interested is balancing the variable output of wind farms. I have heard it may have to do with frequency as well? Obviously, being able to fully charge using cheap non-firm or from renewable are major reasons as well.

Efficiencies are a consideration. The Bonneville Power Administration High Voltage Lab tested a 100kw mobile battery bank last year and said at 80+ % efficiency it was the most efficient they were aware of.

1+ years ago I was given an estimated price of $1.5-2.5 million for a 10mw bank for one hour, using conventional battery technology (lead acid I believe it was), and it had a footprint of roughly about 30 feet wide by 65 feet long and about 3-4 feet high. So, size is another obstacle to overcome.

No utilities I have talked to are interested yet in anything smaller than 10mw for their grid applications.

thanks for opening a very interesting and popular topic for discussions!
This is probably one area technology has not evolved much in last two decades.
Because since I was studying basics of Electrical Engineering, we are been taught that electricity generated can not be stored and hence if not utilized, go waste!!! the things are still not changed over the years.
Of course as mentioned above, some storage systems are coming up but you cant call it a proven idea unless and until it becomes economical.
these are also the limitations for use of Renewable energy as we get solar energy in the day rime but cant utilize the same in night without battery storage! People are working on use of saturated salt baths for storage of solar energy. but still economics is a major concern
Wind energy is having its infirm and seasonal nature. Evacuation in night zone is a problem.
In India, especially in Maharashtra, our state utility has already given huge incentive (@30%) in the unit rate at Off Peak period (night zone) compared to Peak period (day time) to encourage load diversion in night zone. But has not given expected results.
Of course the global recession could be one of the reason for the same.

The original question was about feasibility of ENERGY storage at grid level.
That is a technology that has been employed for ages, with great success, in the form of hydro-electric installations, so the answer must be yes, as already mentioned by several others.
I understand that initiatives into inertia storage systems have also been started (flywheels), but they probably require quite some further development to become economic.
Chemical storage (rechargeable batteries) has obviously also been employed for specific uses for over a century, but not for utility or network scale, as the conversion devices may prove too costly and require too much maintenance to be feasible.
The next such approach appears to be through super-capacitors.
When discussing energy storage as such, we do not need to consider only technologies that can convert energy both ways, as we can also consider it "storage", if we choose the source available at any given time. This could mean Hydro during the night, and Solar during the day, or even wind during seasonal windy periods, and fossil during absence of wind.
In order to get a truly meaningful discussion, I think you will have to narrow down the topic a lot further, than just "energy storage at grid level".