Zero emissions is a goal that many countries are willing to achieve by 2050, and energy storage companies have allocated investments to make it happen. During APEC, Polarium co-founder and European head Peter Wasmuth highlighted several trends in energy storage.
Solar, wind and other renewable energy sources will grow substantially in the coming years, with the government now targeting net zero emissions. As distributed generation becomes more common, the grid will need to be more flexible. Energy storage systems can be a key tool in ensuring this, as they allow production to be adjusted according to grid demand, avoiding interruptions due to overloads or generation (e.g. unstable voltage levels or frequencies): this also enables management to be more flexible and The efficient way is in larger or smaller parts of the grid.
Climate Change and Green Energy
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. Individuals, businesses and policymakers are rallying to address this issue. Everyone aims to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases and thus combat climate change. “From 2020 to 2050, carbon dioxide emissions must be cut in half every decade to avoid catastrophe,” Vosmus said. One way to decarbonize energy is through incentives for renewables, which have led to massive growth in renewables. “The decarbonization of the energy mix has been going on for a long time. But it will accelerate significantly in the 2020s,” Wasmuth said.
Wasmuth noted that renewable energy represents a significant change in the energy system since nuclear power. He described McKinsey’s estimates of renewable energy, which will be cheaper than existing fossil-fuel power plants over the next decade, and add capacity over the next 10 years.
Another increasingly popular policy measure that has a significant impact on the energy sector is carbon pricing to reduce CO2 emissions. About 20 years ago, coal was practically free. It has now quadrupled since 2016. “As politicians from all walks of life introduce green regulations, the price of emitting carbon is rising and will likely continue to rise,” Wasmuth said.
Other interesting trends are blackouts and blackouts. They are becoming more common not only in developing countries but also in markets accustomed to having stable grids. This is due to extreme weather, intermittent increases in energy supply, growing energy demand and chronic underinvestment in energy grid infrastructure.
Climate change is driving the search for renewable energy, driving up the cost of carbon. But energy storage is the missing link in the renewable energy system. The challenge for renewable energy is reliability, with the two main sources of wind and solar being intermittent.
Renewable Energy Generation, World (Source: Ourworldindata)
energy storage
A decarbonized energy system cannot rely on just one technology, but on scope. There are many different technologies for storing energy. Hydro is the current primary solution, followed by lithium-ion batteries and other compressed air solutions. Geothermal energy storage is still in the development stage, but the potential is huge. Lithium-ion technology is the leading solution for electrochemistry.
According to the World Economic Forum, global demand for lithium-ion energy storage will reach 221 GWh in 2030, driven by two factors. One is, of course, the increase in intermittent renewable energy. Another factor is the dramatic drop in the price of lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium-ion battery prices (Source: Ourworldindata)
Today, the primary driver or value proposition for investing in new energy storage is renewable energy storage.
“Turns renewable energy into a monetized asset; through peak shaving, smart lithium batteries can be charged when electricity rates are lowest and discharged at the most expensive times of the day to avoid paying peak electricity prices,” Wasmuth said. “The decentralized energy system of the future creates opportunities for companies to use energy storage in combination with renewable energy, not only to provide their own electricity, but also to sell excess energy back to the grid through so-called virtual power plants.”
A virtual power plant is a cloud-based distributed energy solution that aggregates the power generation capabilities of distributed energy sources such as wind and solar. Virtual power plants are designed to aggregate disparate facilities into one control system, enabling smart energy production, storage and demand.
“Japan’s NTT is betting on battery storage and green transition. It will invest more than 1 trillion yen ($9.3 billion) in renewable energy and storage by 2030. It aims to provide more than 10% of national renewable energy capacity,” Wasmuth said. “Japan’s NTT is betting on battery storage and green transition,” Wasmuth said. “It will invest more than 1 trillion yen [$9.3 billion] in renewable energy and storage by 2030. It aims to provide more than 10% of the country’s renewable energy capacity by 2030.”
In the future, a group of power plants may also consist of a fleet of electric vehicles. Decentralized, decarbonized distributed energy systems in the future will provide new opportunities for the energy ecosystem.