This morning, the Energy Storage Association released its whitepaper “35 X 25: A Vision For Energy Storage,” which lays out a plan for deploying 35 gigawatts (GW – a gigawatt equals 1,000 megawatts) of storage by 2025. The report – developed in collaboration with Navigant Research – outlines a number of developments that argue in favor of energy storage, including:
- a growing need for grid reliability and resiliency, especially as more critical networks like transportation, HVAC, manufacturing, and data become increasingly electrified and demanding on our aging infrastructure;
- an economy that is becoming more dependent on sophisticated computer networks and society becomes increasingly automated and interconnected;
- a rapid increase in deployment of cost-effective renewable resources, which will benefit from having storage as a dance partner;
- an increasing need for a more flexible and adaptable power grid that will benefit from storage resources that are modular and require short development lead times;
- a dynamic of continuing improvements in storage technologies; and
- a steady and rapid decline in costs – especially for lithium ion batteries, which are expected to shoulder much of the burden
A view from the bridge
It is by ESA’s own admission, an ambitious plan. However, in a conversation prior to the report’s release, ESA CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman expressed confidence that these trends are aligning to help realize this vision. A large infusion of storage can add tremendous value to the grid and to society.
Speakes-Backman noted that while the storage addressed in the report includes all energy storage technologies, many stationary storage deployments will utilize lithium-ion technologies, and that associated costs are dropping steadily, benefiting from economies of scale resulting from their use in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. Over time, she observed, supply chains will continue to become more efficient, further driving down battery costs. And – similar to the experience in the solar industry – affiliated costs, ranging from customer acquisition and financing to inverters and balance of system, will plummet as well.
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