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Energy storage is a vital requirement for ensuring a net-zero acceleration plan. Let us discuss this.

Olaolu Jokotoye

Efficient energy storage is one way to achieve sustainable net zero acceleration. Renewable energy sources are not always able to provide energy at the same pace. For instance, because wind speed fluctuates constantly, solar panels and wind turbines might not always be able to provide the most energy possible. My own experience suggests that further research is required to guarantee long-term energy storage. For instance, what are the most effective ways to create energy storage that will last for a long period?

  • Quite right. It's not entirely a new or renewables-specific problem either - balancing supply and demand was an issue even with just conventional generation (especially nuclear and coal fired which isn't easily modulated to meet varying demand) and expensive to build extra capacity that's only started up and used occasionally. Large scale storage has been on the grid for decades now - e.g. the Dinorwig pump-storage system (there are a few others as well and I believe the French have something similar to pair with their predominantly nuclear generation).

    But the advent of renewables does mean we need  lot more. There are lots of possibilities. A few more large scale pump storage perhaps (although suitable sites are limited). Perhaps a  larger number of smaller scales ones might be possible. Around this part of the world (Pennines) we seem to have quite a lot of reservoirs that are in chains of two or three along the same valley - sacrificing perhaps 1m of water capacity in one of them (which is possibly going to be needed anyway for flood attenuation reasons) might provide the basics of what would be needed without most of the usual costly civil works.

    Battery storage is fashionable at the moment, but is likely to be expensive at scale for the foreseeable, but is proven reliably technology.

    Another option is hydrogen - using the "spare" electricity to split water into hydrogen (and oxygen) and then either re-combining them back (in a fuel cell say) to create electricity, or just burning the hydrogen in much the same was as natural gas (either to generate electricity in thermal plants, or for other uses).

    The other side of the coin is managing demand to match available generation rather than the other way around - again not new - major industrial consumers have long been offered cheaper tariffs on the condition that they can reduce their demand on request of the national grid. Smart meters bring that possibility to most other consumers. By time shifting demand (e.g. stored hot water heating or EV changing can often be done a few hours later without any significant impact on the service provided) you get the same end effect of storage, but without actually having to store any electricity.   That may well mean a gradual shift in methods - e.g. domestic hot water from a (thermal storage) cylinder rather than instantaneously heated - but nothing new or revolutionary there.

    I suspect we'll end up with a mix.

       - Andy.

  • Storage doesn't need to be electrochemical.

    Going forward, we need to consider not just meeting energy demands via electricity and renewable generation and storage, but also sustainability proper, i.e. whole lifecycle environmental and ethical impact of the technology involved.

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