Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/801555
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2017 | 17 THE SPEAKERS "There is a need for a multi- stakeholder approach to this. Collaboration is required and this could help overcome some of the funding issues." Steve Kaye Head of innovation, Anglian Water "We have looked at it [battery storage]; we're looking at two proposals at the moment but haven't implemented anything yet." Mike Pedley Head of energy, Welsh Water "The water sector has shown a lot of interest in energy storage over the last 15 months. From that perspective they are a good industry for deploying batteries compared to others because of the way they use energy. From a business case perspective it works very well on a lot of sites." Robert Barker, Sector development manager (water), distributed energy, Centrica "Energy self- sufficiency, or energy bill neutrality, is the holy grail." Fraser Purves "Nothing is impossible, just very difficult, especially at the start." Maxine Mayhew Commercial director, Northumbrian Water "We're trying to understand what the best integration model for storage is. We're working it all out." Rob Wild Demand side response manager, Severn Trent Renewables project delivery manager, energy programme, Scottish Water too expensive. It is hoped that by "riding on the coattails" of the automotive industry, which is doing the heavy liing in terms of investing in and deploying batteries – in particular lithium ion batteries – this will lead to cheaper and more accessible technologies for the water sector to utilise. There was also a call for the government and National Grid to create a simpler but more stable framework for demand response, as this may improve the business case for storage technology. If these things occur, the delegates said it could open up a huge swathe of benefits to the water companies. Chief among this is the holy grail of energy self-sufficiency, where the net energy bill is zero. Storage would allow the water companies - or developers of renewable generation adjacent to water sites with a direct wire and a PPA - to store the energy at times of high sun or wind but low demand, and allow the water company to draw power when required, removing the reliance on power from the grid. A bonus to this set up would also be to optimise the renewable assets and make them more cost effective. Currently, if renewable generation outstrips demand, the excess power is sold to the grid, oen at a low price due to high supply levels from other renewable generators. The water companies then may have to buy back power later in the day at a higher cost due to higher demand. Storage would allow this excess power to be stored and then used at these times of higher electricity costs. It was also highlighted that storage could boost asset resilience – in particular at remote pumping stations. These can suffer with unreliable power supplies but the consequence of a prolonged power cut could see the pumps fail and a pollution event occur. Inserting battery storage onto these sites could ensure a power supply remains on long enough for the mains connection to be repaired and prevent a pollution incident occurring. However, another delegate pointed out that diesel generators can do a similar job at potentially a much lower cost. Whilst most of the debate centred around battery storage, some attention was paid to other forms of storage at water and wastewater sites – such as the potential for sludge treatment, AD and the use of biogas. The development of these technologies – including green gas grid injection – is further advanced and it appears that they are being favoured over batteries, at least for the time being. The adoption of an on-site generation and storage solution is one that appeals to the water sector, but there are currently too many barriers and uncertainties between it and mass deployment. Once costs fall and the business case stacks up, then the age of water companies becoming some of the biggest storage developers could be upon us. Powered by Events Round Table: Energy Storage IN ASSoCIATIoN WITh