As renewable energy generation grows, so does the need for new storage methods that can be used at times when the Sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. A Scottish company called Gravitricity has now broken ground on a demonstrator facility for a creative new system that stores energy in the form of “gravity” by lifting and dropping huge weights.

If you coil a spring, you’re loading it with potential energy, which is released when you let it go. Gravitricity works on the same basic principle, except in this case the springs are 500- to 5,000-tonne weights. When held aloft by powerful cables and winches, these weights store large amounts of potential energy. When that energy is needed, they can be lowered down a mineshaft to spin the winch and feed electricity into the grid.

Gravitricity says that these units could have peak power outputs of between 1 and 20 MW, and function for up to 50 years with no loss of performance. Able to go from zero to full power in under a second, the system can quickly release its power payload in as little as 15 minutes or slow it down to last up to eight hours.

To recharge this giant mechanical battery, electricity from renewable sources power the winches to lift the weights back to the top. In all, the system has an efficiency of between 80 and 90 percent.

Ultimately, this kind of system should be able to store energy at a lower cost than other grid-scale energy storage systems, such as Tesla’s huge lithium-ion battery in Australia. The concept sounds very similar to the one behind Energy Vault, which uses a crane to hoist concrete blocks into a tower.

That said, Gravitricity seems to be further ahead in development. The company is now in the early stages of constructing a demonstrator facility to test out the concept next year. The tower will stand 16 m (52.5 ft) tall, lifting and dropping two 25-tonne weights in order to generate 250 kW.

Agreements to deploy 1GWh of novel aqueous zinc battery energy storage in Texas and 500MWh in California have been struck by technology provider Eos Energy Storage, marking a massive scale-up in expected installations for the systems.

Eos Energy Storage said in a press release yesterday that its long duration zinc hybrid cathode batteries, which are best suited for 4-6 hour discharge but have the flexibility to go to higher power and longer run-times through de-rating power, have been ordered by ‘technology agnostic’ power producer International Electric Power for 1GWh of projects to be connected to the grid run by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

A second customer, Carson Hybrid Energy Storage (CHES), has ordered Eos’ zinc batteries for the full capacity of a 500MWh energy storage facility in the Los Angeles Basin. CHES will use the zinc batteries to store surplus solar that otherwise would be curtailed and unused, while also easing congestion on transmission lines. The project will be preceded by a 1MW pilot to be constructed next year.

CHES president Peter Reardon said that the fire safety of Eos’ technology was a big factor in their selection, as was the ‘Made in the USA’ tag that accompanies the battery systems – Eos has partnered with US nuclear technology company Holtec to create a manufacturing joint venture (JV) called HI-POWER. Alongside the order announcements, Eos said Holtec has invested a further US$10 million into the JV on top of an initial US$12 million it put in last year.

Eos not only makes and supplies the batteries but also the integrated AC Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) that the customers require to connect them to the grid and to other energy resources such as solar and wind. The company claims its battery systems are non-flammable as well as made from widely-available, recyclable materials and as far back as 2017 was claiming solar-plus-storage with 4-hour discharge could be possible for as low as US$0.10 per kWh using the technology.

The rise of renewable energy sources and the decarbonization of the grid will need new energy storage installations in the coming years to provide flexible energy and capacity. Alongside rising shares of solar and wind power in the electricity mix, the U.S. is set to see increased energy storage installation as storage is critical to ensuring more solar and wind power generation.

America has the potential to see 100 gigawatts (GW) of new energy storage deployed by 2030, the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) said in a new white paper this month.

That is an ambitious target, considering that in its previous estimate from 2017, ESA projected 35 GW of energy storage – including batteries, thermal, mechanical, and pumped storage hydro – installed by 2025.  

The ambitious 100-GW target of new energy storage is achievable if supportive policies and emerging policies removing barriers to market participation continue, the trade association says.

“Remarkable Growth Ahead”

“With the right policies and regulatory frameworks in place, we believe that achieving 100 GW of new storage installations by 2030 is entirely reasonable and attainable. Current market projections indicate remarkable growth for energy storage over the next decade, and its role is expanding to maintain and enhance the reliability, resilience, stability and affordability of electricity over the coming decade,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of ESA.

All estimates point to the exponential growth of energy storage installations over the next decade.

The most recent U.S. Energy Storage Monitor from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the ESA shows that a total of 523 MW of energy storage was deployed in the United States. This year, the storage deployment is set to double to nearly 1.2 GW, despite the coronavirus crisis that has changed and challenged energy markets and company plans. In 2025, energy storage deployment is set to reach 7 GW, representing six-fold growth compared to the new storage installations in 2020.

Nevada and other states’ increasing reliance on and plans to adopt more and more renewable energy have a slight problem: The sun eventually has to go down.

The intermittent nature of solar energy and other renewable resources isn’t exactly a big secret; but it nonetheless has come under renewed scrutiny in other states, namely California, amid the “unprecedented” strain on the Western U.S. electric grid earlier this month caused calls for voluntary power cutbacks in Nevada and several other Western states.

NV Energy CEO Doug Cannon said in an interview two weeks ago that the call to reduce power consumption was not tied to a greater reliance on renewable energy; it was instead a capacity problem, with not enough generation to meet expected demand.

But there’s a positive sign; combined under-construction and pending storage projects will see NV Energy surpass a 100 megawatt energy storage goal seven years ahead of schedule.

Still, as the state continues to move toward a greater reliance on renewable energy — including a gradual ramp up to a 50 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard by 2030 — renewable energy advocates say the state needs to take proactive steps now to avoid future resource adequacy issues — i.e. blackouts or brownouts.

“It’s a race, and if we don’t act now on starting all of these transmission projects that have been proposed, and we don’t continue to keep our foot on the gas when it comes to storage and renewable energy, we will fall behind,” Democratic Sen. Chris Brooks, an advocate for expanded renewable energy, said in an interview. “And we won’t be able to seize those opportunities and it will cost not only our state in lost opportunity, it will cost our state in more expensive power.”

If you were building an electrical grid from scratch (with no regard to regulations or finance), then long-duration energy storage would be a requisite. It just makes sense — store energy when it’s cheap and/or abundant, and discharge when the price is high, or the energy is needed by the grid. Use it to load-shift, peak-shift and smooth; to replace fossil-fuel-fired peaker plants; and to integrate intermittent renewable resources onto the grid.

Long-duration storage fits in with what utilities, independent system operators (ISOs), and regional transmission operators (RTOs) understand. “Most utilities seem to want much longer-duration storage systems, with 6 to 12 hours discharge, to do serious load-shaping over the day,” suggests an analyst at a U.S. energy think tank. Some of these expectations are being driven by the performance of pumped hydro, once the only source of grid-connected storage.

Surely, balancing a photovoltaic- and wind-heavy U.S. grid, while retiring fossil-fueled generators, is going to require long-duration energy storage to deliver power when it’s needed and to absorb curtailed power when it’s not.

Storage booming, lithium-ion dominates

The U.S. energy storage market was booming until the Covid-19 virus hit — and it continues to boom, despite, or because of the pandemic. The U.S. energy storage market is forecast to grow from 523 MW in 2019 to 7.3 GW in 2025, according to energy analyst Wood Mackenzie.

Residential solar installers such as Sunrun have revealed solar-plus-storage attachment rates of up to 15% nationwide and up to 60% in the San Francisco Bay area. Utility-scale developers such as 8minute Solar Energy are coupling energy storage with PV on most, if not all, of their large solar projects.

Today’s energy storage market is absolutely dominated by lithium-ion batteries, but a host of new energy storage technologies are being brought to market — offering longer durations and potential improvements in project economics and functionality.

If you were building an electrical grid from scratch (with no regard to regulations or finance), then long-duration energy storage would be a requisite. It just makes sense — store energy when it’s cheap and/or abundant, and discharge when the price is high, or the energy is needed by the grid. Use it to load-shift, peak-shift and smooth; to replace fossil-fuel-fired peaker plants; and to integrate intermittent renewable resources onto the grid.

Long-duration storage fits in with what utilities, independent system operators (ISOs), and regional transmission operators (RTOs) understand. “Most utilities seem to want much longer-duration storage systems, with 6 to 12 hours discharge, to do serious load-shaping over the day,” suggests an analyst at a U.S. energy think tank. Some of these expectations are being driven by the performance of pumped hydro, once the only source of grid-connected storage.

Surely, balancing a photovoltaic- and wind-heavy U.S. grid, while retiring fossil-fueled generators, is going to require long-duration energy storage to deliver power when it’s needed and to absorb curtailed power when it’s not.

Storage booming, lithium-ion dominates

The U.S. energy storage market was booming until the Covid-19 virus hit — and it continues to boom, despite, or because of the pandemic. The U.S. energy storage market is forecast to grow from 523 MW in 2019 to 7.3 GW in 2025, according to energy analyst Wood Mackenzie.

Residential solar installers such as Sunrun have revealed solar-plus-storage attachment rates of up to 15% nationwide and up to 60% in the San Francisco Bay area. Utility-scale developers such as 8minute Solar Energy are coupling energy storage with PV on most, if not all, of their large solar projects.

Today’s energy storage market is absolutely dominated by lithium-ion batteries, but a host of new energy storage technologies are being brought to market — offering longer durations and potential improvements in project economics and functionality.

The rise of renewable energy sources and the decarbonization of the grid will need new energy storage installations in the coming years to provide flexible energy and capacity. Alongside rising shares of solar and wind power in the electricity mix, the U.S. is set to see increased energy storage installation as storage is critical to ensuring more solar and wind power generation.

America has the potential to see 100 gigawatts (GW) of new energy storage deployed by 2030, the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) said in a new white paper this month.

That is an ambitious target, considering that in its previous estimate from 2017, ESA projected 35 GW of energy storage – including batteries, thermal, mechanical, and pumped storage hydro – installed by 2025.

The ambitious 100-GW target of new energy storage is achievable if supportive policies and emerging policies removing barriers to market participation continue, the trade association says.

“Remarkable Growth Ahead”

“With the right policies and regulatory frameworks in place, we believe that achieving 100 GW of new storage installations by 2030 is entirely reasonable and attainable. Current market projections indicate remarkable growth for energy storage over the next decade, and its role is expanding to maintain and enhance the reliability, resilience, stability and affordability of electricity over the coming decade,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of ESA.

All estimates point to the exponential growth of energy storage installations over the next decade.

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The most recent U.S. Energy Storage Monitor from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the ESA shows that a total of 523 MW of energy storage was deployed in the United States. This year, the storage deployment is set to double to nearly 1.2 GW, despite the coronavirus crisis that has changed and challenged energy markets and company plans. In 2025, energy storage deployment is set to reach 7 GW, representing six-fold growth compared to the new storage installations in 2020.