Utility Week

26 | 13TH - 19TH JULY 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets must be clearly separate from the grid to allow it to serve as load management in a market- oriented manner and also serve the grid. The development of efficient energy- storage solutions in Europe will only be successful if the incentives to invest are set correctly. If it is the free market that creates innovation, this requires unbundling of the EU energy market. Not sticking to the unbun- dling rules will lead to lower investment in storage solutions and fewer incentives for innovation. Disrupting grid neutrality is a latent threat to energy storage development that should not be underestimated. In more general terms, the government and Ofgem's Smart System and Flexibility Plan identifies the need for reforms to accommodate, rather than stifle, advances in energy storage. Furthermore the pace of implementation of any policy or regulation – particularly as government and the civil service must dedicate much of their atten- tion to leaving the EU – remains key. Regu- lators must clarify the market rules around energy storage. Hype Energy storage technology is not the decar- bonisation white knight. And continued hyperbole about batteries propelling us towards a zero-carbon future are not doing the industry any favours. Or as Scott McGregor from redox flow energy storage provider RedT puts it: "The real silver bullet is cheap solar and cheap wind, that's what's driving energy storage. I actually think as an industry we are being a bit lazy, in that we're not using our brains to connect the two effectively enough." Energy storage has the potential to increase flexibility as well as deliver ancillary services to both the grid and its customers. Those services include frequency control, black-start capability and reactive power. Without energy storage, EU targets for renewable energy cannot be met. It will also play an increasingly critical role in the resilient grid of the future, because storage systems will provide important services, including improved grid stability and back- up power, and allow for greater integration of renewable resources. But storage will not answer the decarbonisation question. Not alone. Big fish Significant expertise and investment are needed to develop the technology required for battery energy storage systems. And as a result, the barrier to market entry for new players is high. Currently, Tesla, Panasonic and LG Chem swim largely unchecked in the battery stor- age ocean. There are new entrants on the horizon though, in the form of General Elec- tric and Fluence, a joint venture between AES Corporation and Siemens. Elsewhere, a report from the all-party parliamentary group on energy storage, published in December, said 12GW of battery storage in Britain is possible by the end of 2021. This raised questions about whether it will really be possible to gain a foothold in the battery business while 88 per cent of bat- tery manufacturing capacity currently hap- pens in Asia. But the government hopes its ambitious £246 million Faraday Challenge What next for energy storage? Lithium-ion batteries dominate the head- lines, and Elon Musk's grand plans for Tesla include a "gigafactory", which he says will be the largest building on Earth by footprint (it is expected to manufacture more lithium- ion batteries by 2020 than were produced globally in 2013). The company has already supplied grid-scale batteries to Australia. Meanwhile, in Germany, Mitsubishi and Eneco are developing EnspireME, a 48MW lithium-ion system with a capacity of more than 50MWh – the average daily energy con- sumption of more than 5,300 households. Beyond batteries, a Scottish start-up is taking hydro storage technology and applying it to abandoned coal mines. Compressed air is also an option, hydrogen another. Liquid air energy storage is emerging as a high-tech contender, too. An intelligent combination of these technologies could go a long way to solving intermittency second by second, hour by hour and even season by season. HOW BATTERY STORAGE WORKS GENERATE — Solar generation 0.00 6.00 18.00 12.00 24.00 — Typical energy use n Solar consumption n Surplus solar available for storage STORE USE Store surplus solar electricity and use in evening peak period. Electricity use in this period typically defines the size of the energy storage system Daily electricity use defines the solar PV array size (roof permitting) will give the home side a significant boost in the right direction. Mindset Blockchain, big data and artificial intelli- gence have the potential to revolutionise the entire industry, but these technologies are not new. They not only exist but are available. So why aren't they being widely used to build an energy network in which people produce, consume and exchange energy peer-to-peer, shiing the balance in favour of the con- sumer and a new generation of innovators? The industry has these technologies at its disposal and the talent to implement them accordingly, but companies across the board need to adopt a more digital mindset to propel the market forwards.

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