the energy revolution of 2018: electricity storage - electrical energy storage systems

Julian krishlow and Aaron DenmanIn 2017, practical
Large-scale energy storage has moved from a few experimental projects to the front --
Page news, with prominent deployments in Australia, Texas, Southern California and hurricanes
Puerto Rico hit hard
Building on these successful installations, 2018 should be a more important milestone for energy storage, as decision makers encourage power system operators to incorporate energy storage into their integrated planning.
Regulators also need to clarify market rules on energy storage, allowing utilities and other storage operators to "stack" ancillary services outside of storage, as the California Utilities Commission (CPUC)recently did.
As energy storage replaces the peak plan and changes future transmission and distribution, it will affect the entire power value chain (T&D)
Invest, reduce the intermittent nature of renewable energy, rebuild the electricity market and help digitize the power ecosystem.
For utilities, battery storage will be an indispensable tool for managing peak loads, regulating voltage and frequency, ensuring reliability of renewable power generation, and creating more flexible transmission and distribution systems.
For their customers, storage can be a tool to reduce costs associated with peak energy requirements.
What drives all these opportunities is a reduction in battery storage costs, which is largely a factor in the rapid growth in battery development and manufacturing for electric vehicles.
Bain's research estimates that by 2025,
Scale battery storage is cost competitive compared to peak plant
It's just cost-based, without any added value that we expect companies and utilities to generate from storage.
In some markets, the cost of combining renewable energy with battery storage is already lower than that of coal.
Utilities and their large commercial customers are also looking for ways to create more value around their investments in storage, making deployment more viable.
CPUC recently addressed these stacking services in a set of clarification rules, designed to address the ambiguity of battery storage.
In addition to using batteries to store power during low demand, and then releasing these stored electrons during peak periods to scrape off peak loads, stored power can also provide services such as voltage and frequency modulation.
It can ensure higher reliability of intermittent renewable energy generation.
In order to take advantage of these opportunities, utility companies must adapt their operating models.
For example, when energy storage reaches a peak and makes the load curve normal, utilities may abandon some investment in peak capacity and delay investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure.
In addition, since the increment of energy storage is much smaller and can be moved, the investment cost is lower.
In this way, storage is not only a tool to meet the needs of the system, it can also reduce the cost of the system because it will drain unnecessary capacity and waste from the system.
Utility executives need to think creatively about how to work with business and industrial customers to take advantage of some opportunities.
Consider, for example, a large commercial customer who runs an electric vehicle fleet.
To improve efficiency, the company may choose to deploy a range of large batteries in the garage where vehicles are parked and charged at night.
Utilities may be able to use such storage assets during the time the vehicle is fully charged or on the road.
Similarly, companies with large data centers may invest in battery storage to ensure a reliable power supply, but may allow utilities to take advantage of these resources when they are not needed in the data center.
Deals like this will require some new power in the utilities sector, as most people are not used to managing these types of partnerships.
At the heart of all these efforts will be to improve the IT capabilities of utilities, especially in the area of advanced data analytics.
Utilities need to have a better understanding of supply, demand, and voltage and frequency requirements, sometimes even down to circuit levels, as customers and regulators have more demand for them.
While few utilities currently have the capabilities needed to manage such a large amount of data and extract valuable real data
Many utility executives say they are starting to build this capability internally.
They may find that the cost is higher.
Efficiency and effectiveness of cooperation with third parties
Supplier Analysis.
By combining the deep industry experience and vast amounts of data of utility companies with the analytical expertise of suppliers, this partnership is often a faster and more economical way to gain insights.
As with renewable energy generation, much of the momentum towards adopting energy storage will come from new companies that can flexibly take advantage of new opportunities for these emerging business and industrial enterprises.
As customers seek to reduce costs, improve reliability and resilience, and overall greater control over energy use, they become more complex.
To meet these demands, they are increasingly looking to energy service companies.
While the role of energy services companies is not new, storage is a new addition to their toolkit.
These companies can provide a wide range of services, first-class energy storage, peak demand for shaving (
Therefore, fixed demand costs are reduced based on these peaks)
, Consolidate the flow of distributed solar energy and provide backup functions that allow customers to operate independently.
Mature developers and software players can help create new value for their customers by successfully adding these revenue streams based on data analytics capabilities.
As the cost of energy storage continues to decline, the new business model that integrates various value streams will unlock its potential.
Energy storage will change the entire power value chain as it enriches the portfolio of large power enterprises
Expand renewable energy in the power generation stack, create more modular, flexible, and localized T & D systems, and deliver higher value to customers.
Read more: Welcome to the next energy revolution
Lucicity storchlow is Bain's partner in London and Aaron Denman is a partner in Bain's Chicago office.
Both companies work with Bain Global Utilities, led by Bain.