Discussing renewable energy includes not only the technologies facilitating its production, but also its distribution, storage and use. This includes everything from solar panels and wind turbines to innovations approaches like V2G technologywhich allows electric vehicles to reinject energy into the grid from their batteries, as well as the deployment of home battery systems. When we expand this concept, we encounter the emergence of megabatteriesa key element in the evolution of the sustainable economy.
The transition from coal and gas plants to wind and solar installations is only part of the equation. Equally critical is reconfiguring the power grid to seamlessly integrate a large influx of clean energy sources, which are inherently variable. Unlike fossil fuels, wind and solar power generation is shielded from geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions, and depends solely on natural phenomena such as wind and sunlight patterns.
Energy storage systems are the solution here, offering a suite of technologies designed to store energy when surplus is available and dispatch it when demand increases, keeping the power grid stable and functioning. This involves balancing energy input and output in real time to maintain essential grid parameters such as voltage and frequency, thereby avoiding outages and other disruptions, even in times of insufficient wind or sunlight. .
Megabatteries: A paradigm shift in storage
Historically, pumped-storage hydroelectric installations have dominated energy storage, using off-peak electricity to raise water for later energy production. However, this article highlights an emerging and rapidly expanding technology: large-scale stationary battery systems (BESS) which interface directly with the electrical grid, either absorbing or providing energy depending on systemic needs.
S&P Global's forecast calls for a 57% increase in grid-connected battery storage capacity by 2023, to 40 gigawatts (GW), with expectations for continued robust growth to around 70 GW. here 2030. China and the United States are spearheading this expansion. Bloomberg NEF projections go further, estimating that global energy storage installations will reach 1,091 GW/2,850 GWh by 2040, a substantial increase from the 9 GW/17 GWh recorded in 2018, requiring a investment of 662 billion dollars.
The role of megabatteries
The characteristics of a reliable electricity system – flexibility, stability, reliability and security – have traditionally been met by fossil fuel production. The new challenge is to achieve these standards within a predominantly renewable network without CO2 emissions, ensuring that electricity is available anytime, anywhere.
Electricity storage is essential to maximize the integration of variable renewable sources like wind and solar into the grid. It allows rapid absorption, storage and redistribution of energy, thus contributing to the proper functioning of the electrical system. Grid-connected megabatteries provide many services, improving efficiency and providing economic benefits. These include:
1. Operating reserve
Megabatteries can respond quickly to any potential technical imbalances in the system, such as frequency variations due to unexpected increases in electricity demand. Because wind and solar generation have less inertia or kinetic energy than traditional energy technologies, they are more susceptible to sudden mismatches between supply and demand. Despite significant progress in forecasting wind or solar production, these forecasts are less precise than those of conventional technologies. Megabatteries provide essential reserve capacity to quickly restore balance in such situations.
2. Ramp
In conventional electricity systems, the daily demand curve resembles a camel's hump, with peaks in the morning when people are getting ready for their day and in the evening when they return home. In a system powered by renewable energy, this curve turns into a “duck curve”, mainly because solar energy peaks at midday and declines sharply after dark. Storage systems, including megabatteries, provide a rapid response to these abrupt changes or increases in electricity production, eliminating the need for additional generation capacity.
3. Arbitration
Arbitrage involves supplying energy to the grid during periods of high demand and high prices and storing it during periods of low demand and low prices. Megabatteries excel in this role, improving system flexibility and smoothing out fluctuations in power generation. This process avoids the need to build new facilities just to meet peak demand, thereby mitigating the volatility of electricity prices.
4. Smoothing
Megabatteries can smooth out sudden voltage or frequency fluctuations in the grid, such as those that occur when solar output changes due to cloud cover or wind output varies based on gust intensity. In doing so, they help network managers maintain the technical balance of the system.
5. Savings in transmission and distribution investments
By using megabatteries, it is possible to avoid the need for new transmission and distribution infrastructure designed to manage congestion when generation is high and existing networks do not have the capacity to handle the load. This approach also results in a reduced environmental footprint compared to the construction of new power lines.
6. Shaving the peaks
In renewable energy systems characterized by high variability in generation capacity, it may be necessary to build new fossil fuel power plants only to meet potential peak energy demands, thereby ensuring reliability and security of supply. Megabatteries address this need by providing a viable alternative, thereby avoiding the need for new backup generation facilities.
Beyond the six key capabilities that megabatteries offer to power grids, they also offer significant benefits in various other contexts such as off-grid locations, island environments or smaller grids, enabling reliable system management without resorting to fossil fuel solutions. Additionally, there are valuable applications behind the meter, where consumers can leverage these systems to reduce their dependence on the grid and even provide services to it at certain times.
The largest battery in Texas
A great example of the potential of large battery technology for grid services is illustrated by the recent agreement concluded by the Spanish company ACCIONA Energía. That deal involved the acquisition of Texas' largest battery, as well as a portfolio of six other development projects totaling 1.23 gigawatts of power, the equivalent of the output of a medium-sized nuclear power plant.
The most advanced of these projects is Cunningham, located 21 miles from Dallas. Scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2023, it will be the largest grid-connected battery in Texas. With a capacity of 190 MW and an energy storage capacity of 380 MWh, it occupies approximately 6 hectares. The remaining projects are expected to be completed over the next three years, strengthening the region's renewable energy infrastructure.
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