Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/736974
While the wait for regulatory change continues, Network future-gazes at the likely evolution of energy storage technology, and analyses the implications of the recent enhanced frequency response tender T he first market-ready energy storage technologies are waiting for regulatory and policy change to trigger a storage boom. There has been some progress: earlier this summer the first contracts in National Grid's enhanced frequency response were awarded, but doubts have been voiced about the financial viability of the contracts. While regulatory barriers remain in place, attention has turned to the future, with forecasts being made about the potential dominance of domestic storage beyond 2020, bolstered by a second-life electric vehicle battery market that is set to explode as first generation EVs reach the end of their lives. And scientists are not resting on their laurels. Lithium-ion is expected to rule su- preme for at least the next decade, but work is under way to improve various technolo- gies, such as flow batteries and flywheels, that could take over grid service applica- tions where lithium-ion cannot be used effectively because of degradation. That degradation has been studied by a team of chemists at New York University. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries build up deposits of "dendrites" during charging cycles, causing performance loss and safety concerns. Monitoring the growth of these dendrites is crucial to producing high- performance batteries in the future. The scientists used magnetic resonance imaging to monitor the condition of batteries in real time, and produced this image.