Green hydrogen has begun to score more attention as a large-scale, long-duration storage medium for wind and solar energy, leading to the much-anticipated “hydrogen economy” of the future. However, it is still in the early phases of commercial development. In the meantime, other types of energy storage are already on the market. A new report indicates that under favorable policies, energy storage could see rapid growth in the U.S. while helping to accelerate wind and solar development, too.
First, the good news about energy storage
As one example of strong interest in the interplay between energy storage and renewable energy, trade publications that used to focus exclusively on fossil energy have been pivoting toward the energy storage topic. Last month the news organization Oilprice.com, for example, covered a new white paper by the Energy Storage Association titled. The report indicates that improved policies would support 100 gigawatts in new storage for the U.S. as early as 2030.
That jump in storage capacity represents an important factor in the pace of decarbonization in the U.S. and globally. As one of its key points, the ESA paper argues that energy storage makes wind and solar more competitive, and therefore more attractive to investors. A more aggressive timeline for energy storage development would consequently give wind and solar development a push, too.
The figure of 100 gigawatts could actually turn out to be an underestimate, considering that the white paper does take green hydrogen into account. That’s fair enough, considering that the hydrogen society concept faces cost and technological barriers before it can become fully mainstreamed.
Instead, the white paper primarily factors in existing battery storage technology along with pumped hydropower, which currently accounts for the overwhelming majority of large-scale energy storage capacity in the US.
Some good news about green hydrogen
The 100-gigawatt goal represents a more ambitious outlook than an earlier projection, in which ESA anticipated only 35 gigawatts by 2025.
In terms of technology, though, 100 gigawatts may turn out to be a fairly conservative estimate.
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