Combining component parts into hybrid systems to reap the benefits has always been an attractive prospect. In the past years, successful projects have come online for both solar-plus-storage and wind-plus-storage — the resiliency of battery energy storage combined with the financial boost from power generation.
So what does hybrid refer to in the world of energy storage? While the idea isn’t new, the technology is still in an early phase, only really being explored for grid applications in the past couple of years. Hybrid energy storage systems (HESS) can refer to several different types of set up; the point in common is that two or more types of energy storage are combined to form a single system.
There is no single energy storage solution that is ideal for every grid-scale application. As explained by Greentech Media, they “are typically designed for high-power applications (i.e., “sprinter” mode that provides lots of power in short bursts) or energy-dense applications (i.e., “marathon” mode that provides consistent lower power over long durations), and there are lifetime, performance, and cost penalties for using them in unintended ways.”
HESS typically combine both “sprinter” and “marathon” storage solutions to fulfill applications that have diametrically opposed requirements; e.g. fast response vs peak shaving. The potential for value stacking immediately jumps to mind.
Hybrid storage offers other avenues for cost reductions; two or more systems can share much of the same power electronics and grid connection hardware, reducing both upfront and maintenance costs. Three types of hybrid storage have started to appear past the pilot stage:
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