Storing energy by suspending weights in disused mine shafts could be cheaper than batteries for balancing the grid, new research has found.

According to a report by analysts at Imperial College London and seen by BusinessGreen, gravity-fed energy storage systems can provide frequency response at a cost cheaper than most other storage solutions.

Gravity-fed systems use a heavy weight – up to 2,000 tonnes – suspended in a deep shaft by cables attached to winches. When there is excess electricity, for example on a windy day, the weight is winched to the top of the shaft ready to generate power.

This weight can then be released when required – in less than a second – and the winches become generators, producing either a large burst of electricity quickly, or releasing it more slowly depending on what is needed.

The Imperial analysis is based on a levelised cost of storage (LCOS), a calculation which takes into account all relevant performance factors including a project’s capex, operating costs, discount rate and degradation costs over a 25-year period.

According to the paper, gravity-fed storage providing frequency response costs $141 per kW, compared to $154 for a lithium-ion battery, $187 for lead acid batteries and $312 for flywheel.

The numbers assume the storage performs 700 cycles per year of 15 minutes each, at a power output of 4MW, to help manage the real time grid balance between system demand and total generation.

Singapore-based clean energy provider Sunseap Group has contracted German energy storage firm Hoppecke Asia Pacific to bring storage to Sunseap’s hybrid off-grid solar system at Tanglin Academy, the largest tennis academy in Singapore.

In 2016, Sunseap donated a 15kW solar system to the academy as part of its corporate social responsibility programme. Hoppecke’s 17kWh advanced sealed lead acid battery will help Tanglin Academy further reduce its carbon footprint. Solar energy produced during the day can be stored and discharged on cloudy days or in the evenings to illuminate the Academy’s tennis courts.

The collaboration will serve as a testbed for Sunseap to launch hybrid off-grid energy solutions on a commercial scale in the future.

The partnership will not only help Tanglin Academy utilise more clean energy but also reduce its reliance on its diesel generator, which is currently used to supplement the solar energy generated from the solar panels on its premises.

Sherman Chong, director of Hoppecke, said: “The hybrid energy system by Sunseap is an innovative solution that makes use of solar energy efficiently, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Our Hoppecke solar power battery range is an ideal complement to this system, and offers outstanding stability and long life span, even when the battery is partially charged.”

Shawn Tan, senior manager of special projects at Sunseap Group, said: “Sunseap is pleased to collaborate with Hoppecke and Tanglin Academy to showcase our new energy storage and solar-diesel hybrid energy solution. We have been exploring ways to help clients save more money and reduce their carbon footprint, and we are very excited that we have implemented this solution.”

Sunseap also works with enterprise development agency, Enterprise Singapore (previously IE Singapore and SPRING Singapore), to build its product development capabilities in micro grids and on test bedding projects.

OVO has unveiled a suite of new products designed to boost energy flexibility in the home, including what it claims to be the world’s first widely available domestic vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric vehicle charger.

The 6kW V2G charger allows EV owners to charge up their vehicle at home, while simultaneously storing excess household power in the EV battery for use during high grid demand.

Supporters of V2G systems argue they will play a key role in boosting grid flexibility, allowing the UK to cope with the growing use of intermittent renewables and higher electricity demand from EV use.

Ovo says the charger will also help drive down household bills, allowing billpayers to store energy when it is cheap.

The charger is bolstered by a number of other products launched by the utility, including a domestic battery storage product and smart-enabled ‘Heat Dynamos’ which work alongside home electric heaters to boost the efficiency of their use.

Meanwhile, a new AI platform dubbed ‘VCharge’ will act as an overarching system for Ovo to flexibly manage smart household electricity systems. The VCharge system is designed to remotely connect smart electrical devices – such as EV chargers and battery storage – and aggregate them into a “virtual power plant” to better optimise their use and improve energy efficiency, according to OVO.

“We’re enabling thousands of EV batteries to help balance the grid in times of peak demand, more renewable energy to come onto the system, and households to reduce their electricity bills,” Stephen Fitzpatrick, CEO and founder of OVO, explained. “This is the first step in building the distributed energy system of the future. One that is truly customer centric and built around households and their connected energy storage devices.”

The energy technology firm has also launched a 7kW smart EV charger enabling EV owners to charge up during peak hours, but which unlike the V2G version does not offer two-way electricity flow capability to store power on the EV battery.

Today, MGX Minerals Inc. announced a partnership agreement between its 100% owned subsidiary ZincNyx Energy Solutions Inc. and New York based systems integrator Digital Energy Corp. According to the agreement, Digital Energy will install the ZincNyx battery system at a demonstration site in New York City and upon successful completion of the first project, ZincNyx and Digital Energywill develop additional installation sites and work to expand distribution of the ZincNyx technology in the US, as President and CEO of ZincNyx, Suresh Singh, explained:

“We are delighted with this partnership with Digital Energy. Digital’s years of experience with system integration and energy generation will greatly enhance our ability to deploy energy storage solutions throughout the United States.”

The first project in New York City will demonstrate ZincNyx’s patented zinc-air flow-battery technology in combination with an onsite co-generation plant to reduce cost and increase revenue through multiple value streams, including peak shaving, demand response and economic dispatch. The ZincNyx flow battery chosen for this project employs a unique zinc-air chemistry that is safe for use in densely populated areas. The project will identify the operational and regulatory requirements to be satisfied for deployment in the state of New York.

Digital’s choice, amongst many high capacity batteries, is the zinc-air system that has long been recognized as highly advantageous due to its inherent safety, high energy density and abundance of its raw materials. The other unique advantages of the ZincNyx system, such as the ability to simultaneously charge and discharge, flexibility to optimize power and energy needs, low cost of energy for long durations and modularity, further simplified the decision. Vice President of Digital Energy, Jon Lilian, commented:

“Digital is excited to partner with ZincNyx to bring lower cost energy storage solutions to New York State. We believe the ZincNyx flow battery product, along with revenue streams from the New York State REV initiative and the NYISO, will provide a high value proposition for this and future projects.”
Read more at http://www.stockhouse.com/news/newswire/2018/04/18/first-zincnyx-mass-energy-storage-plant-for-new-york-city#UeAADqqr9azrv10E.99

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and 32 energy companies and organizations sent a letter to leaders of the Energy Storage Association (ESA) on Wednesday to support its efforts in advancing energy storage and to highlight principles seen as critical to helping the nation achieve a cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy system.

One of the world’s biggest oil industry supermajors has teamed up with the global leader in electric cars in a new business venture and pilot project. British Petroleum (BP) has joined forces with Tesla to build the oil company’s first battery storage project at one of its U.S. wind farms. This move comes as part of a bigger foray into renewables, a strategy becoming common among supermajors trying to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing energy landscape.

Wind farming is notoriously finicky when it comes to supply, and large-scale batteries like the one Tesla will be providing in the pilot project at BP’s South Dakota Titan 1 wind farm will help solve the volatility of the renewable power source. These Powerpack batteries are able to store extra power when winds are high, giving wind power a much-needed commercial edge. Tesla will be installing a 212 kilowatt (KW)/840 kilowatt hour battery (roughly 4 Powerpacks).

Titan 1 is just one of 13 wind farms that BP has installed across the U.S., amounting to a total capacity of over 2 gigawatts. In addition, the supermajor invested nearly $300 million in solar energies last year, and acquired a 43 percent stake in Lightsource, Europe’s largest solar development company. It has also been reported that BP is in negotiations with auto companies to install EV chargers at BP gas stations.

The pilot program with Tesla is just the first stage of a long learning curve to maximize the output of BP’s wind farms. The Powerpack being installed is a small one and will be an opportunity to improve battery storage technologies for future use at BP’s other wind and solar farms. For Tesla, the Powerpack is just one of many lucrative and innovative contracts the company has secured recently from their booming energy division.

Advanced battery energy storage — known as ABES — is one of the few technologies that has the potential to permanently disrupt America’s energy markets.

Although still a nascent industry — with only around 700 megawatts of capacity installed on the U.S. grid by the end of 2017 — ABES is poised to take off, thanks to rising investments in renewables and the declining costs of utility-scale batteries. Some industry experts believe America’s storage market could increase ninefold from 2017 to 2022, albeit from a low base.

In S&P Global Ratings’ view, once the economic rationales improve for batteries, ABES could upend America’s existing power model, creating ramifications for both the energy and capacity markets. The prospects for the battery industry could be further supplemented by ongoing state-level policies to decarbonize the grid. Once these factors become stronger, the power industry likely will reach a point of no return: Battery storage could become a mainstay on America’s grid, complementing the parallel developments in the renewables space.

How advanced is the technology?

Discussions with investors, sponsors and regulators all point to a similar conclusion: Advances in battery storage technologies are inevitable. It’s unclear when the industry will see meaningful change, and answering the question of where battery storage could advance may be easier. We can expect ABES capacity to be installed in areas where both the regulatory and economic rationales are most favorable — given the supplementary effect that battery storage can bring about for states with a higher proportion of renewable generation sources.

New Jersey is the latest US state to set itself targets for the deployment of energy storage, with newly passed legislature calling for 600MW of the technology within three years.

A bill, S2314/A3723, passed last week as one of three sustainability and low carbon measures for the state going forward, calls on the New Jersey Public Utilities Board to analyse the costs and potential benefits of energy storage as well as making revisions for community solar, energy efficiency, peak demand reduction and solar renewable energy certificate programmes.

Local independent system operator PJM Interconnection is famed in the energy storage world as the first local transmission organisation in the US to favour clean, fast-acting batteries to provide frequency response in a competitive market. PJM has been instructed to conduct analysis with the Public Utilities’ Board.

Six months after the creation of a report, the Utilities’ Board should “initiate a proceeding to establish a process and mechanism for achieving the goal of 600 megawatts of energy storage by 2021 and 2,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030,” a Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee statement issued earlier this month read. The report itself must be put together one year after the passing of the bill, giving a possible 18 month lead time from this month until deployments must begin.

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