Energy Storage-as-a-Service: The Hottest Game in Town?

on March 25, 2018

PV-MagazineEnergy markets are evolving incredibly fast. But while dynamism in the global energy sector is just cause for much optimism, it can also be tricky.  Prices are falling, but how far? And how fast? Rules are changing, but how quickly? And how exactly?

Back the wrong horse too early, and you may find yourself out-priced by your competitors, who have a better solution. Wait too long and hold off on decisions and you may miss out on interesting market opportunities while others gain valuable experience.

And if that wasn’t difficult enough, a wide range of ownership and operation models is available on the market. The hottest game in town: Energy-Storage-as-Service – or ESaaS for short. In fact, the list of purveyors of ESaaS has grown so long, that the concept warrants a closer look.

ESaaS isn’t wholly new: The idea that those in need of the many benefits that intelligent battery energy storage can provide would simply contract them rather than invest themselves was prominent already when, or rather because, energy storage was still relatively expensive. As prices continue to drop and storage starts to become an asset class of its own, it’s only natural that it attracts innovative infrastructure investors seeking stable returns and clean energy investments alike.

While this “financing case” or side for/of ESaaS is justified and sure to grow, there’s also the “purely temporary” dimension of Energy-Storage-as-Service that’s received much less attention.

So what exactly is “temporary storage” – and how is it different from the financing-based ESaaS models grabbing the headlines right now?

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Fractal Energy Storage ConsultantsEnergy Storage-as-a-Service: The Hottest Game in Town?