Since 70 percent of the global demand for energy is met by burning fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, it’s not surprising that we’re pumping enormous amounts of climate-warning carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — an astonishing 35.8 billion tons (32.5 billion metric tons) in 2017, according to the International Energy Agency.

But even with clean energy sources such as wind and solar power increasing rapidly across the planet, we’re probably still going to be using fossil fuels as well for the foreseeable future. That’s why many are looking to carbon capture technology for power plants as a way to reduce emissions. The Petra Nova power plant near Houston, currently the world’s biggest post-combustion carbon capture facility, kept more than 1 million tons (907,000 metric tons) of carbon from going into the atmosphere in the first nine months after it went online in January 2017.

Using the Carbon We Capture

But that leads to another question. What do we do with all that carbon dioxide? Storing it underground is one option. But in an article published on March 29, 2018 in the scientific journal Joule, a group of Canadian and U.S. scientists describe an even more intriguing solution. Captured CO2 could be converted into other molecules to create fuels to store energy generated by wind turbines or solar panels, as well as to supply raw materials to make plastic and other products.

“Consider this as a form of artificial photosynthesis,” Phil De Luna, a doctoral candidate in Materials Science Engineering at the University of Toronto and one of the article’s authors, explains. “Plants take CO2 and sunlight and water and make sugars and other things they need to live. We’re taking energy and CO2 and converting it into things we can use.”

Small-scale, grid-connected energy storage solutions, or “community batteries,” can have a viable business case, supporting the ongoing growth of decentralized energy generation resources. This is one of the key findings of a feasibility study published today by DNV GL, based on work by an industry-wide consortium that includes energy storage firm Alfen and flexibility aggregator Peeeks. The study finds that, given current costs for lithium-ion battery technology and grid expansion projects, community storage can be both economically and socially viable. Furthermore, it outlines a decision-making framework to help grid operators and other stakeholders identify and optimize business models and revenue streams for community storage in any market.

Decentralized energy sources such as rooftop solar panels or individual wind turbines are an important part of the transition to a more sustainable energy future. They can help energy users reduce their bills and contribute to a more sustainable energy mix with lower greenhouse gas emissions. But such resources put extra strain on the local electricity distribution infrastructure, which must be prepared to handle any peaks in generation output.

Distribution network operators (DNOs) can expand the capacity of their network with additional underground cables, but this takes a lot of time and money. An alternative is to install batteries close to decentralized resources to store any excess energy generated and feed it into the grid when demand exceeds supply. Regulations in most countries prevent the network operator owning these distributed storage solutions. Instead an independent player owns the battery facility and sells its capacity as a service to the DNO and other stakeholders.

The report identifies the conditions and stakeholders, such as home owners, energy retailers and network operators, required to make community storage services viable. Furthermore, it shows that a multi-stakeholder approach brings benefits for all parties.

Small-scale, grid-connected energy storage solutions – or community batteries – can have a viable business case, supporting the ongoing growth of decentralized energy generation resources, according to a feasibility study published today by DNV GL.

DNV GL, a global quality assurance and risk management company, says the findings are based on work by an industry-wide consortium that includes energy storage firm Alfen and flexibility aggregator Peeeks. The study finds that, given current costs for lithium-ion battery technology and grid expansion projects, community storage can be both economically and socially viable. Furthermore, it outlines a decision-making framework to help grid operators and other stakeholders identify and optimize business models and revenue streams for community storage in any market.

DNV GL explains that decentralized energy sources, such as rooftop solar panels or individual wind turbines, are an important part of the transition to a more sustainable energy future. They can help energy users reduce their bills and contribute to a more sustainable energy mix with lower greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. But such resources put an extra strain on the local electricity distribution infrastructure, which must be prepared to handle any peaks in generation output, according to the study.

Distribution network operators (DNOs) can expand the capacity of their network with additional underground cables, but this can take a lot of time and money, the study notes. An alternative is to install batteries close to decentralized resources to store any excess energy generated and feed it into the grid when demand exceeds supply. However, regulations in most countries prevent the network operator from owning these distributed storage solutions. Instead, an independent player owns the battery facility and sells its capacity as a service to the DNO and other stakeholders.

The report identifies the conditions and stakeholders – such as homeowners, energy retailers and network operators – required to make community storage services viable. Furthermore, it shows that a multi-stakeholder approach brings benefits for all parties

ARNHEM, Netherlands (April 4, 2018) — Small-scale, grid-connected energy storage solutions – or “community batteries” – can have a viable business case, supporting the ongoing growth of decentralized energy generation resources. This is one of the key findings of a feasibility study published today by DNV GL, based on work by an industry-wide consortium that includes energy storage firm Alfen and flexibility aggregator Peeeks. The study finds that – given current costs for lithium-ion battery technology and grid expansion projects – community storage can be both economically and socially viable. Furthermore, it outlines a decision-making framework to help grid operators and other stakeholders identify and optimize business models and revenue streams for community storage in any market.

Helping grids cope with decentralized generation

Decentralized energy sources such as rooftop solar panels or individual wind turbines are an important part of the transition to a more sustainable energy future. They can help energy users reduce their bills and contribute to a more sustainable energy mix with lower greenhouse gas emissions. But such resources put extra strain on the local electricity distribution infrastructure, which must be prepared to handle any peaks in generation output.

Distribution network operators (DNOs) can expand the capacity of their network with additional underground cables, but this takes a lot of time and money. An alternative is to install batteries close to decentralized resources to store any excess energy generated and feed it into the grid when demand exceeds supply. Regulations in most countries prevent the network operator owning these distributed storage solutions. Instead an independent player owns the battery facility and sells its capacity as a service to the DNO and other stakeholders.

The report identifies the conditions and stakeholders, such as home owners, energy retailers and network operators, required to make community storage services viable. Furthermore, it shows that a multi-stakeholder approach brings benefits for all parties.

Viable community storage: a win for all

For DNOs, multi-stakeholder community storage solutions are a much cheaper alternative to expanding the grid. Moreover, they can be installed and fully operational much faster than new grid capacity and with significantly less disturbance to the local environment and population as there is no need to dig up kilometres of roads to lay new cables. For parties interested in installing and operating community storage services, the study shows that long-term contracts are a commercially interesting option, potentially making it easier to find funding for new projects. Meanwhile, end users – whether residential, commercial or industrial – can be confident of a reliable and affordable supply of sustainable electricity.

The market for energy storage on the power grid is growing at a rapid clip, driven by declining prices and supportive government policies.

Based on our research on the operation and costs of electricity grids, especially the benefits of new technologies, we are confident energy storage could transform the way American homeowners, businesses and utilities produce and use power.

Balancing acts

Energy storage in this context simply means saving electricity for later use. It’s like having a bunch of rechargeable batteries, but much larger than the ones in your cellphone and probably connected to the grid.

After annual average growth of about 50 percent for five years, the U.S. electricity industry installed a total of 1 gigawatt-hour of new storage capacity between 2013 and 2017, according to the firm GTM Research. That’s enough to power 16 million laptops for several hours.

While this amount of storage is less than 0.2 percent of the average amount of electricity the U.S. consumes, analysts predict that installations will double between 2017 and 2018 and then keep expanding rapidly in the U.S. and around the world.

To see why this trend is a big deal, consider how electricity works.

It takes a hidden world of complexity and a series of delicate balancing acts to power homes and workplaces because the grid has historically had little storage capacity. After being generated at power plants, electricity usually travels down power lines at the speed of light and most of it is consumed immediately.

Without the means to store electricity, utilities have to produce just enough to meet demand around the clock, including peak hours.

That makes electricity different from most industries. Just imagine what would happen if automakers had to do this. The moment you bought a car, a worker would have to drive it out the factory gate. Assembly lines would constantly speed up and slow down based on consumer whims.

It sounds maddening and ridiculous, right? But electric grid operatorsbasically pull this off, balancing supply and demand every few seconds by turning power plants on and off.

That’s why a storage boom would make a big difference. Storage creates the equivalent of a warehouse to stow electricity when it is plentiful for other times when it is needed.

HAYWARD, Calif., April 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Primus Power (“Primus”), the leading long duration stationary energy storage company, announced today that Etechwin is operating an EnergyPod 2 at their Beijing campus.  Etechwin is the microgrid subsidiary of Goldwind, a world-leading wind turbine manufacturer.

The curtailment on wind energy is a significant economic problem, especially in western China. As stated by Bloomberg, “drawing upon data from China’s National Energy Administration, Bloomberg New Energy Finance recently estimated that owners of China’s wind and solar assets forewent approximately $4.7 billion in potential revenue due to curtailment in 2017.”  In June 2017, the Qinghai province recognized the critical role that energy storage can play to reduce curtailment and proposed new legislation that would mandate the use of energy storage systems with new wind turbine installations.

Battery energy storage paired with wind turbines unlocks the ability to mitigate rapid wind output changes due to varying wind speeds and helps ensure a stable power output, and controlled ramp up and ramp down of the wind power generation [link].  Wind plus storage also provides electric grid operators the ability to time shift power generation to periods of high demand and provides frequency control to ensure a stable grid.

“Policy makers in China are considering a mandate that energy storage be incorporated with all new grid connected wind developments,” says Guoju Zhang, Goldwind’s Product Advanced Research Department Chief. ”In anticipation of this mandate, we have installed, commissioned and are operating a Primus EnergyPod 2 system at our facility. With the help of the Primus team, we look forward to proving out the value of battery energy storage paired with our wind turbines.”

“Primus is excited to be working with Goldwind and Etechwin to help solve the challenges represented by renewable curtailment,” remarked Jorg Heinemann, Primus Power’s Chief Commercial Officer.  “Both Goldwind and their customers will greatly benefit from the multi-hour performance and multi-decade life that our EnergyPod 2 provides. Our friends at Goldwind and Etechwin are strong partners, and we look forward to continuing our partnership on future projects”.

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From powering our homes and workplaces to fueling our cars and charging our cell phones, it is an undeniable fact that energy is critical to our everyday lives. With the world’s population projected to grow to 8.6 billion by 2030, we can expect energy demand to witness a significant surge in the long term.

This global megatrend bodes well for the utilities sector, as it forecasts needs well into the future, but also poses a challenge: How do we provide energy that is accessible, reliable, efficient and sustainable?

Aware of the issue, Middle East countries are beginning to diversify their energy sources – a curious development considering that the region is home to some of the world’s leading oil and gas producers. Despite this, governments across the region are setting renewable energy targets, irrespective of their position on the global resource spectrum.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has a target of 9.5 gigawatts under Saudi Vision 2030, and the UAE aims to produce nearly half of its electricity via renewables by 2050. Meanwhile, Jordan – an energy importer – plans to boost its renewable energy capacity to 1.8 gigawatts by 2020.

While these targets are promising for renewable energy companies, as they demonstrate a commitment to the development and financing of the industry, the utilities sector must also address the intermittency of renewable energy supply with viable storage solutions – such as batteries – in order to ensure the sustainability of its uptake.

While conventional power plants operating on diesel or gas boast a continuous supply of electricity – primarily because these resources can be stored for future use – renewable energy sources exist within a ‘use it or lose it’ window. This perceived barrier for their adoption can be overcome through leveraging battery storage solutions to store the energy until it is needed.