California needs to deploy up to 55 GW of long duration energy storage by 2045 and 2 GW to 11 GW by 2030, in order be on track to achieve the state’s 100% clean electricity goals, according to a new report from the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA).
To put those numbers in context, 55 GW is more than 150 times the amount of energy storage that has been deployed in the state since 2010. Including planned storage development, it is nearly 12 times all storage currently contracted or in development within California.
While it would be easy to dismiss these figures as a storage-focused organization trying to advance its own goals, it’s not just CESA recognizing the need for exponential deployment figures.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has put together models outlining that as much as 70 GW of energy storage will be needed to achieve the state’s goal of 100% renewable and zero-carbon electricity resources by 2045. The CPUC also determined that “all storage needed beyond 2030 will have to have discharge for durations of six to eight hours or longer.”
Environmental benefits and industry response
Deploying the level of storage that CESA is modeling for would allow the state to retire 10 GW of fossil fueled generation, reduce system capacity costs by $1.5 billion per year from 2031-2045 and increase renewable energy utilization by 17% while decreasing in-state fossil fuels usage for electricity generation by 25%.
The study has been met with positive reactions across the storage industry.“The latest CESA study clearly shows that long duration energy storage needs to be deployed now to meet the near-term as well as long-term needs of the energy market… It will take a strong commitment to long duration energy storage technologies to enable a 100% clean energy future,” said Javier Cavada, CEO of Highview Power.
“We commend CESA for bringing a spotlight to the long duration energy storage issue and it’s vital importance to creating a zero-carbon electric grid,” said Joe Zhou, CEO of Quidnet Energy, a provider of modular pumped hydro technology for long duration energy storage. “The level of effort required to transition to a carbon-free power system is substantial and requires solutions that can deploy cost-competitively and at the necessary scale… This report highlights the urgency of the need for long-duration storage in the state.”
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