Over the years, due to increased consumption, the availability of fossil fuels has decreased significantly. The crude oil reserves are getting declined at the rate of 4 billion tonnes a year, and at this rate, it is predicted that the oil deposits will last until 2052. Attributed to this, and the ever-surging need for energy, there is a rising requirement for alternate ways of generating energy. In addition, the increased usage of fossil fuels for power generation has resulted in a severely degraded environment. Hence, the demand for pollution free and environmentally sustainable energy resources is growing. Furthermore, due to all these factors, the need for energy storage systems is also increasing.

Energy storage systems allow the effective integration of renewable energy and provide benefits of local generation and a resilient, clean energy supply. As per a report by P&S Intelligence, in 2017, the installed capacity of global energy storage market was 6,275.4 megawatt and is predicted to attain 51,426.0 MW in 2023, advancing at a 42.5% CAGR during the forecast period (2018–2023). The different types of energy storage systems are electrochemical, chemical, mechanical, thermal, and others (which include biological and fossil fuel storage). The largest demand during 2013–2017 was created for mechanical energy storage systems, as these systems can be installed on a large-scale in the utility systems and can further be utilized in high demand scenario.

There are several applications of energy storage systems including back-up supply, arbitrage, ancillary services, and fuel savings. Some other applications include running mills and air conditioning. Out of these, the highest demand for energy storage was created for the ancillary services application and the situation is projected to remain the same in the coming years as well. The reason for this is that energy storage has the capability to make grid more reliable and efficient. The fastest growth in demand during the forecast period is expected to be witnessed by the arbitrage application.

Among all the regions, namely Asia-Pacific (APAC), North America, Europe, and Rest of the World, North America created the highest demand for energy storage during 2013–2017. In the region, the energy storage market in the U.S. was the largest during 2013–2017 and the situation is projected to remain the same during the forecast period as well. The reason for this is the low cost and favorable state policies which support the case for installing batteries in homes, power grid, and businesses. Out of all the regions, APAC is expected to witnessed the fastest growth in demand for energy storage.

The need for energy storage systems is further growing due to the increasing cost of energy. The requirement for energy is rising rapidly because of the surging population and swift urbanization, primarily in countries including India, China, and Brazil. Due to this, the power plants are running at full capacity, which, in turn, is resulting in the gradual rise in the power prices. Furthermore, the unavailability of fuel is leading in the volatility of prices. Ascribed to these factors, the adoption of energy conservation is increasing, thereby resulting in the growing utilization of energy storage systems.

The Energy Department is launching a comprehensive program to accelerate the development and use of next-generation energy storage technologies across the United States and advance the nation’s global leadership in the space.

Through its new Energy Storage Grand Challenge, the agency will coordinate a range of research and development funding opportunities, prizes, partnerships and other activities to meet a variety of power-storage-focused goals over the next decade. Energy also anticipates that the program will support its ultimate vision of maintaining a secure domestic supply chain independent of critical materials from foreign sources by 2030.

“Energy storage is key to capturing the full value of our diverse energy resources,” the agency’s Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a statement. “Through this Grand Challenge, we will deploy the department’s extensive resources and expertise to address the technology development, commercialization, manufacturing, valuation, and workforce challenges to position the U.S. for global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future.”

Energy’s range of cross-cutting activities will be managed by the agency’s Research and Technology Investment Committee, which was mandated by 2018 legislation and established in 2019 to identify and support a variety of science- and technology-focused research and development opportunities. Through the grand challenge, the department aims to coordinate numerous funding opportunities, prizes, partnerships, and other programs to meet a strategic set of targets over the course of the next decade. According to the agency, those objectives include:

• Establish ambitious, achievable performance goals, and a comprehensive R&D portfolio to achieve them.
• Accelerate the technology pipeline from research to system design to private sector adoption through rigorous system evaluation, performance validation, siting tools, and targeted collaborations.
• Develop best-in-class models, data, and analysis to inform the most effective value proposition and use cases for storage technologies.
• Design new technologies to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and recyclability, and to reduce dependence on foreign sources of critical materials.
• Train the next generation of American workers to meet the needs of the 21st-century electric grid and energy storage value chain.

U.S. entrepreneurs have led the world in creating new technologies for storing grid power, but they largely rely on other countries for their core ingredients.

Tesla’s famous car and grid batteries use cells from Japanese manufacturer Panasonic. When companies like Fluence or NextEra integrate large battery enclosures, they source cells from the likes of South Korea’s LG Chem or Samsung SDI.

And when a global supply crunch constrained those top-tier suppliers, integrators turned to a growing roster of Chinese producers and found that they measured up.

But the Trump administration’s Department of Energy last week proposed a different vision, one in which the U.S. establishes a domestic supply chain for energy storage by 2030. It’s calling this a “Grand Challenge” — and promising millions of dollars and considerable institutional resources to achieve it.

Increased funding for basic research, technology transfer and workforce training has been on the storage industry’s wishlist for years. An explicit focus on the industrial planning needed to onshore the storage supply chain, however, adds a new flavor to the mix.

Specifically, the DOE wants “a secure domestic manufacturing supply chain that is independent of foreign sources of critical materials” by 2030, which would require a marked departure from today’s import-dependent industry.

Global trade enables countries to obtain things they don’t produce locally, or which can be produced more cheaply elsewhere, something that has traditionally been deemed beneficial. But reliance on foreign supply can cause problems.

A generous storage deployment subsidy in South Korea contributed to a global battery supply crunch in 2018, squeezing projects in the U.S. Sometimes domestic decisions make it hard to rely on other countries, as when the Trump administration chose to levy tariffs against batteries and inverters produced in China, driving up prices for American companies.

President Donald Trump might believe that wind turbines cause cancer and that people can’t watch TV when the wind isn’t blowing, but that is not preventing his government from announcing plans to achieve global leadership in the energy storage technologies that will improve America’s ability to store its variable wind and solar power.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the launch of the “Energy Storage Grand Challenge”, which it describes as “a comprehensive program to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy storage”.

The vision, the DOE explained, “is to create and sustain global leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a secure domestic manufacturing supply chain that is independent of foreign sources of critical materials, by 2030”.

Lithium-ion batteries — which account for around 90% of the world’s battery industry — require raw materials such as cobalt and nickel that are not produced at scale in the US. Some lithium is mined in the US, but at a far smaller scale than the main lithium-producing nations of Australia, Chile, Argentina and China.

According to BloombergNEF, China was producing 73% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries in early 2019, with the US in second place on 12%.

“Through this Grand Challenge, we will deploy the Department’s extensive resources and expertise to address the technology development, commercialization, manufacturing, valuation, and workforce challenges to position the US for global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future,” said Energy Secretary Dan Brouilette.

The DOE explained the forthcoming process as follows: “As a first step in the Challenge, DOE will soon release requests for information (RFI) soliciting stakeholder feedback on the key questions and issues the Challenge seeks to address.

“Over the coming weeks, DOE will host a series of workshops with key stakeholders to share information about various storage technologies, share about current barriers to deployment, and help shape the work that will bring those technologies to market. This work [will] inform the development [of] a coordinated R&D roadmap to 2030 for a broad suite of storage and flexibility technologies.

It’s been a long time coming, but vintage solar energy storage research dating back to the 1980s (and beyond) is finally bearing fruit. In the latest development, scientists at the University of Houston in Texas have demonstrated proof of life for a hybrid device that collects and stores sunlight in the form of heat for 24/7 use. Nope, it’s not a concentrating solar system and it doesn’t rely on molten salt or specialized oils. It involves norbornadiene-quadricyclane, something fairly new on the CleanTechnica radar.

Energy Storage With Norbornadiene-Quadricyclane
Norbornadiene-quadricyclane has been studied for solar energy storage since at least 1983, when the American Chemical Society published a paper aptly titled, “Norbornadiene-quadricyclane system in the photochemical conversion and storage of solar energy” in the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Process Design and Development.

The research toddled along slowly until a veritable volcano of new papers erupted in recent years. A 2016 study by a team of researchers in Sweden nails down the reason for the fresh burst of activity (emphasis added):

“Molecular photoswitches that are capable of storing solar energy, so-called molecular solar thermal storage systems, are interesting candidates for future renewable energy applications. In this context, substituted norbornadiene-quadricyclane systems have received renewed interest due to recent advances in their synthesis.“

Wait, What Is Norbornadiene-Quadricyclane?
Got all that? Compared to the olden days, nowadays a norbornadiene-quadricyclane system can be tailored more precisely for peak performance.

As for what norbornadiene-quadricyclane is, that’s the easy part. It’s a compound of two hydrocarbons (aka organic molecules), norbornadiene and quadricyclane.

And now for the super interesting part. Remember back in high school when isomers were a thing? In chemistry, isomers are two or more chemical compounds that have the same kind and number of atoms. The atoms are configured differently in each isomer, meaning that each isomer has different properties.

Using solar energy in the form of heat to “flip” one isomer to another is the heart of a norbornadiene-quadricyclane energy storage system.

Sunlight creates a reaction in norbornadiene, transforming it into quadricyclane. The switch from one to the other is also a switch from low energy state to a high energy state, which is where the energy storage angle comes in.

The US Department of Energy has launched a new initiative aimed at accelerating the development, commercialisation and utilisation of next-generation energy storage technologies.

Using a coordinated suite of research and development funding opportunities, prizes, partnerships and other programmes, the Energy Storage Grand Challenge sets out several goals for the US to reach by 2030.

They cover technology development and transfer, including establishing performance goals and validation and accelerating a technology pipeline from research to system design.
The goals also include policy and valuation to develop best-in-class models, data and analysis to inform the most effective value proposition and use cases for storage technologies, as well as boosting manufacturing, the supply chain and training the workforce.

The first step will see DoE soon release requests for information from stakeholders on the key questions and issues the challenge seeks to address.

DoE will also host a series of workshops with stakeholders to share information about various storage technologies, learn more about current barriers to deployment, and help shape the work that will bring those technologies to market.

This work will inform the development of a coordinated R&D roadmap to 2030 for a broad suite of storage and flexibility technologies, the department said.

The Grand Challenge builds on the $158m Advanced Energy Storage Initiative announced in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request, DoE said.

US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said: “Energy storage is key to capturing the full value of our diverse energy resources.

“Through this Grand Challenge, we will deploy the Department’s extensive resources and expertise to address the technology development, commercialisation, manufacturing, valuation, and workforce challenges to position the US for global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future.”

Google and other large tech companies are seeking to add cleaner energy to power their operations, but the new deal stands out for its size and the associated storage, which analysts say is less common in similar corporate arrangements.

While NV Energy already has plans to add both solar and storage to its system, Google is seeking to match up all of its consumption with renewables around the clock.

In December, regulators approved NV Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, including three solar projects totaling 1,190 MW and 590 MW of energy storage capacity. The utility has indicated it will need to update its long-term plan in order to gain approval for the new deal with Google.

Regulators have scheduled a pre-hearing conference for Jan. 23 to begin considering the proposal.

While Google’s renewable energy purchases in the United States have so far been largely wind driven, the company last year said the declining cost of solar “has made harnessing the sun increasingly cost-effective.”

Solar costs have declined more than 80% in the last decade, according to the company.

In the deals announced last year, Google laid out plans to purchase solar energy from a 155 MW project in North Carolina, 75 MW in South Carolina and 490 MW in Texas. The company said those deals would more than double the capacity of its global solar portfolio.

Clean energy is gaining traction with corporate buyers. Wood MacKenzie estimates that in 2018 corporate deals accounted for 22% of wind and solar contracts, with tech giants topping the list of buyers. The firm said Facebook, Google and Amazon accounted for more than a third of the U.S. renewables market in 2018.

But while the trend is towards more corporate renewables deals, this particular transaction stands out. “This is definitely the largest storage [power purchase agreement] I’ve seen,” Alex Eller, senior research analyst at Navigant, told Utility Dive. “It’s an interesting one.”

Storage deals for corporate buyers often don’t pencil out, said Eller, because the renewable generation is already fairly cheap. “There are some other renewable procurements in this size range, but having storage to go along with it is different,” he said.

It’s no secret that the Trump Administration has presided over the collapse of the US coal industry, but do they have to rub it in? The answer appears to be yes. On Wednesday, newly minted Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced an all-hands-on-deck initiative to push the energy storage envelope farther into coal-killing territory. For good measure, the new $153 million “Energy Storage Grand Challenge” will probably bump off natural gas, too. And all this under a President* who pledged to save coal jobs!

The Jig Is Up: Trump Hates Coal, Loves Energy Storage
Considering all the promises Trump made to coal miners, their families, and their communities, one would think that a major coal-killing announcement would get buried in a Friday evening news dump. After all, energy storage is the key that accelerates the renewable energy revolution.

Nope. Secretary Brouillette made the announcement in the brilliant light of day exactly in the middle of the week, on Wednesday afternoon at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The annual event, which is owned and produced by the US Consumer Technology Association, bills itself as “the world’s gathering place for all those who thrive on the business of consumer technologies.”

“It has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for 50 years — the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace,” CES continues.

You couldn’t ask for a more high profile venue than that — oh wait, you can.

CES has been especially like honey to media flies this year, because a very high profile White House official — Trump advisor Ivanka Trump — was scheduled to deliver a rare main stage keynote address at the event. That’s rare as in, female main stage keynoters are like unicorns at CES, so between the Trump name and the female angle, all eyes have been on CES for weeks leading up to the event.

A Moonshot For Next Generation Energy Storage
Where were we? Oh right, the new energy storage announcement. Here it is:

“Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced the launch of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, a comprehensive program to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy storage.”

At $153 million, funding for the new energy storage program is relatively small. However, it adds to a $158 million pot that was carved into the fiscal year 2020 federal budget.

That’s still peanuts compared to other Energy Department efforts (FutureGen, anyone?), but there’s an interesting twist to this one.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced the launch of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, a comprehensive program to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy storage. The Grand Challenge builds on the $158 million Advanced Energy Storage Initiative announced in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request.

“Energy storage is key to capturing the full value of our diverse energy resources,” said Secretary Brouillette. “Through this Grand Challenge, we will deploy the Department’s extensive resources and expertise to address the technology development, commercialization, manufacturing, valuation, and workforce challenges to position the U.S. for global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future.”

The vision for the Energy Storage Grand Challenge is to create and sustain global leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a secure domestic manufacturing supply chain that is independent of foreign sources of critical materials, by 2030. While research and development (R&D) is the foundation of advancing energy storage technologies, the Department recognizes that global leadership also requires addressing associated challenges.

Using a coordinated suite of R&D funding opportunities, prizes, partnerships, and other programs, the Energy Storage Grand Challenge sets the following goals for the U.S. to reach by 2030:

• Technology Development: Establish ambitious, achievable performance goals, and a comprehensive R&D portfolio to achieve them;
• Technology Transfer: Accelerate the technology pipeline from research to system design to private sector adoption through rigorous system evaluation, performance validation, siting tools, and targeted collaborations;
• Policy and Valuation: Develop best-in-class models, data, and analysis to inform the most effective value proposition and use cases for storage technologies;
• Manufacturing and Supply Chain: Design new technologies to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and recyclability, and to reduce dependence on foreign sources of critical materials; and
• Workforce: Train the next generation of American workers to meet the needs of the 21st century electric grid and energy storage value chain.
• The Energy Storage Grand Challenge is a cross-cutting effort managed by DOE’s Research and Technology Investment Committee (RTIC). The Department established the RTIC in 2019 to convene the key elements of DOE that support R&D activities, coordinate their strategic research priorities, and identify potential cross-cutting opportunities in both basic and applied science and technology.