Grid-scale energy storage will be economically viable in the UK
London, UK and New York, USA - The report
The study says that while niche markets for energy storage are already viable in the UK today, mainly to relieve bottlenecks in the transmission and distribution of power, more substantial penetration of energy storage within the grid system will become economic within the next five years. However, the Bloomberg report also points out that the key to the successful roll-out of energy storage within the UK electricity system in the next few years will be putting in place an appropriate regulatory framework - something that has not yet been achieved.
Specific forecasts in the report are that energy storage will be able to meet economically the need for fast reserves and short-term operating reserves, two grid services purchased by National Grid to maintain grid stability, in 2014 and 2017 respectively; and that using storage to manage energy prices could make sense for large power consumers in the next year and for smaller ones by 2016.
The most exciting development in storage worldwide is in the price of lithium-ion batteries. In the long-term, as more and more electric vehicles are made and sold, the cost of batteries used in these vehicles will fall, and this technology will be directly transferable to the grid system as well. Most grid-scale lithium-ion battery projects today cost more than $1,000/kWh, but with battery manufacturing capacity likely to outstrip supply in the short term, Bloomberg New Energy Finance is forecasting significant price drops in the next 36 months, towards $600/kWh by 2015.
By 2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, energy storage could be in widespread use in the UK across the transmission and distribution systems, at customer sites and perhaps co-located with wind farms and solar parks.
Source: IWR Online, 26 Jan 2012
