Avoiding curtailment made sense when solar generation was extremely expensive: don’t build solar beyond what you can store. However, that means solar must always wait for storage costs to decline and capacity grow. But with solar prices plummeting it can make economic sense to overbuild it, say Richard Perez, University at Albany, and Karl Rabago, Pace University. Oversized solar will deliver more energy in low light and reduce the need for … [Read more...]
Smart Charging: parked EV batteries can save billions in grid balancing
95% of a car’s time is spent parked. It’s why parked and plugged-in EVs could be the battery banks of the future, stabilising grids powered by wind and solar. More than 1bn EVs could be on the road by 2050, their 14 TWh of EV batteries dwarfing the projected 9 TWh of stationary batteries, according to the IRENA report “Innovation Outlook: smart charging for electric vehicles”. Smart charging could therefore save billions of dollars in grid … [Read more...]
IEA clean energy progress report: Only 7 technologies/sectors on track, 38 not
Of the 45 energy technologies and sectors assessed in the IEA’s latest Tracking Clean Energy Progress (TCEP) report, only 7 are on track with the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS). It’s their latest and most comprehensive assessment of clean energy transitions. “On track” includes energy storage, EVs and solar PV. But buildings, car, flaring and methane emissions are still rising. This year’s TCEP puts much greater emphasis on … [Read more...]
Competitive battery storage: InnoEnergy doubles prize to accelerate start-ups entry to market
Utilities and other investors are putting more funds than ever into a battery storage market worth an estimated $250 billion. Right on cue, European clean energy innovation engine InnoEnergy announced a global call for storage entrepreneurs. Their €100,000 first prize meant applications from a diverse range of start-ups flooded in. But which of these should be fast-tracked into this competitive market? At a special event which highlighted a … [Read more...]
New “Gas for Climate” scenarios: can green gas and hydrogen save gas pipelines?
Gas has a key role to play in decarbonising the energy sector. Until a comprehensive clean energy network can accommodate variable renewables using storage, baseload power will be needed. Natural gas is a lower carbon option than coal, so there is a strong case for it to be the first-choice bridging fuel towards a net-zero energy economy. However, exactly how much gas, what type of gas and how existing infrastructure can store energy in the form … [Read more...]
Flexible renewable power: Spain to triple solar thermal capacity by 2030
Sunny Southern Europe will become increasingly connected to its Central and Northern European neighbours with the ongoing development of cross border interconnectors. This is one of the crucial factors behind Spain’s decision to include an additional 5 GW capacity from STE/CSP plants in its Integrated National Energy and Climate plan (NECP). Complete with inherent storage capabilities, STE can provide flexible, dispatchable power supply at … [Read more...]
Utilities are starting to invest in big batteries instead of building new power plants
There has been a dramatic drop in battery costs in recent years. Jeremiah Johnson and Joseph F. DeCarolis, of North Carolina State University, say if this continues grid-scale batteries could supplant the usual solutions to peak electricity demand: gas power plants and transmission lines. Inevitably, this will depend on the future price of gas, and the changing policy environment. But one thing is for sure: utilities don’t want to invest in peak … [Read more...]
IEA: Battery storage races to keep up with solar and wind’s demand-matching challenges
Yesterday’s article from the IEA posed the question: will solar’s inherent intermittency slow its rise as a major power supply. For variable renewables like solar and wind to grow to over 50% of global capacity additions by 2040, storage technology must keep up with this pace. For this to happen, “flexibility” – the ability of the power system to quickly adapt to changes in power supply and demand – needs to grow by some 80% in the next decade … [Read more...]
Battery manufacture must take a global leap forward to ensure a sustainable and just transition
The global battery market is surging. By 2040 the global energy storage market is projected to attract $620 billion of investment. Over the past decade, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery market doubled on average every three years. To cope with this growth, we need the development of a sustainable and low-carbon value chain for batteries in order to contribute to the implementation of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, says Martin Brudermüller, … [Read more...]
VW joins Tesla and BMW – EV and energy company all-in-one pays for business and consumers
Last week’s announcement by VW that it is setting up a company called “Elli” (short for Electric Life) offering energy services shows VW’s vision of what lies ahead for the automotive industry. It brings them head to head with Tesla and BMW who are already playing a role outside the traditional bounds of the car business. They are the new breed, ready to profit from customers who want to go electric as long as it makes financial as well as … [Read more...]
Nuclear – critical choice for 2050
As the urgency of the climate crisis becomes more obvious, nuclear power is drawing another look. The power sector needs to develop to meet climate targets. Renewables (RES) have taken significant share of the energy mix in recent years but going further means securing far more investment and solving the complex challenge of integrating variable power. There is a need for alternatives to run alongside RES, keeping us on track. Matthew Wald from … [Read more...]
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