Cracking the nut of energy storage

Did you see last week the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved establishing a target of 1.3GW (1,300 MW) of energy storage to be procured (contracted) by the 3 main utilities serving the state by 2020?

California has an aggressive (relative to the US) renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 33% by 2020.  This means 33% of the generated electricity contracted by utilities on behalf of their customers shall come from renewable energy sources.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, public policy of this nature is a strong driver of investment.  Policy mandates create certainty of the future. 

Policy mandates also cause a domino effect.  More renewables coming online on the California grid creates operational and reliability issues with more intermittent resources in the mix.  More renewables, specifically solar, also introduces a new need for generation ramping to meet evening demand after the sun goes down.  Check out peak load shift for more information. 

So, here comes storage! Storage provides flexibility of generation (ie, when we use the energy we stored) as well as rapid response time (from what they say, I'm going on an assumption here.  But, if it responds like my cell phone, I have to believe response is pretty quick).

The below diagram is a good illustration of how energy storage is a great partner to renewable energy production- storing when we are producing in abundance and releasing storage to the grid when needed.  

 

So, why are we only now just seeing energy storage in the mix?  Well, with all new things, the technology is still expensive.  Research continues to mark progress and work towards figure out the best solution.  Once the nut of energy storage is cracked, I predict we will see a complete revolution in electricity.  

cheers from one nutty energy economist,

blondee

bits and pieces....

I recently read a story on Google purchasing the entire output of a 240MW wind farm in Texas.  While Google will not directly consume the power generated by the turbines, the electricity generated by the new wind farm will be sold into the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) market, the same grid system serving Googles Mayes County, OK data center.  Then, Google can retire the generated Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) against the company's carbon footprint.  

source: DOE Green Power Network email

This is a perfect little example of how policy, be it public policy or company policy, drives investment in renewable energy projects.  When a developer can achieve some level of 'certainty' of ROI, projects like this new wind farm in Texas get built. 

Oh, and, if you would like to know more about RECs, why don't you google it?  I'll write about them another time.

Cheers, 
blondee