big batteries needed to make fickle wind and solar power work - battery power storage

There are huge batteries in the grid near you.
In fact, they have started to appear on the grid in California.
This is because California plans are increasingly dependent on power supplies that are not necessarily available every minute of the day.
State plans to get one-
By 2020, its third electricity came from wind and solar energy.
Utilities in the state are trying to figure out how to deal with this uncertain power supply.
Batteries are not universal but they can help.
Pacific Gas and electricity
Has begun to consider how to make the most of the battery test in Baca-
It is located in Dixon substation near the northern California city of Vacaville.
Dave Fribush of PG & E joked: "Unfortunately, there are no dancing bears, no mice running on wheels, so it's not that exciting, "When he took us to two gray cabinets, there was the size of the moving van inside.
There is enough battery energy inside to store the energy generated by two large wind turbines in seven hours.
This is only a small part of California's energy needs, but it is part of a larger experiment launched by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The committee calls for connecting hundreds of batteries and other energy storage devices of this size to the grid over the next seven years at a potential price of $5 billion.
Here is the catch.
No one really knows how the battery can best smooth out irregular power supplies from wind and solar.
Todd Strauss, senior director of energy policy planning and analysis for PG & E, said: "There are many possible different uses of batteries on the Internet . "
"The question is, how can I use it in practice in these different ways?
What is the relative cost of actually using the battery in these different ways?
Strauss added: "Looking at the batteries that are coming up on us is an attempt to get to know this.
"You can treat a fully charged battery as an energy source, ready to sell its products to the grid, just like a power plant.
To make this work, battery owners need to buy power to charge the battery when the price is low, and then sell the power back to the grid when the price is high.
But the idea turned out to be wrong.
"I think the battery made $9 when we did that," said Fribush, who is in charge of PG & E battery storage integration.
"So we have a long way to go.
We don't even haveSan Francisco
There is no minimum wage for the system!
Part of the reason is that the battery is not efficient.
The battery wastes about 25% of its energy during charging and discharging. These sodium-
To work, the sulfur battery needs to be heated to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Given that the installation cost of this battery is $10 million, they need to find more valuable time to take advantage of it.
Strauss expects the battery to be useful in keeping the entire grid reliable --
Grid operators will also pay for the service.
The power supply needs to match the power demand for a second time and the battery can provide some necessary finestuning.
"So there's no doubt," said Strauss. "As we get more renewable energy,
Especially more wind, especially more solar photovoltaic.
The system needs more flexibility on the system.
"Electricity supply and demand need to be adjusted --
The temperature keeps rising, and in minutes-
Dealing with the dark clouds of the past and the changing winds
If the wind stops blowing for a few days or weeks, the battery cannot be filled, as sometimes happens.
On the contrary, PG & E will return to its natural gas
During this time, the power plant is lit, or it may import more energy from outside the state.
"We will also focus on customers," said Strauss . ".
Industrial customers can sometimes reduce demand for electricity. And —
Maybe one day
Household appliances will be able to automatically reduce power consumption when supply is tight.
Battery is not the only storage option for short batteriesterm needs.
PG & E has two interconnected reservoirs in High Sierra.
When there is enough power in the grid, utilities will pump water up the slope.
When the demand for electricity increases, they can let the water flow generate electricity through the turbine.
Utilities are also trying to store energy with a flywheel.
PG & E is considering injecting compressed air into underground caves.
They can then release pressurized air to power the turbine.
Thermal energy solar energy is a way to store energy in the form of heatmolten salt.
Strauss said they had a lot of choices.
"Technically, it all seems possible, but at the end of the day, the question is, 'What will it cost? '?
"The batteries will do something, but they are still very expensive.
To make the battery successful, the technology needs a revolution that has reduced the price of solar panels by about 75% over the past decade, Strauss said.
"It would be great if we used it for batteries," he said . "
"If the cost of the battery stays at today's level, it's not that good and we may be looking for different technologies.
"There is not much time to solve the problem.
Utilities like PG & E are preparing for a huge online surgeand-
With California's wind and solar industries accelerating to meet the state's goal of 2020 renewable energy, electricity supplies will be shut down in the next six years.
California's lessons can be a reference for decision-making in many other states as they are thinking about how to deploy their own renewable energy.