STORAGE IS THE FUTURE: MAKING THE MOST OF BATTERIES Dr Jonathan Radcliffe, Senior Research Fellow And Policy Director Birmingham Energy Institute Value Of Energy Storage And Aggregation To UK Grid, 10 July 2015, London
Decarbonising power 50,000 45,000 40,000 Progress towards 2020 renewables target 35,000 GWh/yr 30,000 25,000 20,000 Bioenergy 15,000 10,000 5,000 - Hydro Wave/8dal 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Sources: UK Energy in Brief (DECC, 2014), UK Renewable Energy Roadmap (DECC, 2009)
Example pathway dynamics Dynamics of energy system transition will be critical to deployment of enabling technologies Intermittent generation will expand before demand response from HPs and EV is in place New gas plant could remove the value from other options and remains for decades
Summary: Energy system need for flexibility Main elements of UK energy system scenarios to meet 2050 GHG targets: Decarbonise power sector Increase energy efficiency Electrification of demand Challenges will become more acute in pathways to 2050: Large proportion of intermittent generation by early 2020s Possible growth of distributed generation Increase in demand for electricity for heating and transport in late 2020s Timescale) Challenge) Seconds) Renewable(generation( introduces(harmonics(and( affects(power(supply(quality.( Minutes) Rapid(ramping(to(respond(to( changing(supply(from(wind( generation.( Hours)) Daily(peak(for(electricity(is( greater(to(meet(demand(for( heat.(( Hours)6) Variability(of(wind/PV( days) generation(needs(back>up( supply(or(demand(response.( Months) Increased(use(of(electricity(for( heat(leads(to(strong(seasonal( demand(profile.(( ( Policy drivers vary globally, but have common need for increasing flexibility: Increasing access to electricity off-grid and in cities Infrastructure renewal
Energy storage technologies Coal: 1Mt coal = 3,000 GWh e (about two months output at 2GW) Current gas storage 50,000 GWh Pumped hydro storage: total UK = 28GWh e Hot water cylinder: one tank = 6kWh th ; 14m tanks = 84GWh th
Discharge time at power rating Hours Minutes Seconds Electricity Storage Technology op8ons Reserve & response services High Energy Supercapacitors Flywheels High Power Supercapacitors Transmission & distribution Bulk power grid support management Pumped hydro Hydrogen Fuel Cells storage Flow bageries Advanced lead- acid bageries Li- ion bageries Advanced lead- acid bageries Nickel- Cadmium bageries Nickel metal hydride bageries Sodium sulphur bageries Superconduc8ng magne8c energy storage Compressed Air Energy Storage Liquid Air Energy Storage Thermal Electrochemical Mechanical Electrical Chemical
Making the case for storage With an increase in generation from must run and intermittent sources, and rising demand for electricity with less predictable profiles, flexibility becomes a critical component of an efficient energy system There are various means of meeting the same general and specific challenges: Flexible plant new plant (nuclear and fossil fuel CCS) will be built with greater ability to flex generation cost-effectively. Has been and continues to be the default option Demand side response smart meters + EVs deployed over the next decade can give consumers an incentive and mechanism to shift loads. Interconnection provides additional capacity or load for the UK, but operated on merchant basis is not solely for UK benefit. Energy storage can capture off-peak or excess low carbon generation and deliver at peak times, does not compromise national security of supply, does not require behavioural change from consumers. (Include consideration of alternative energy vectors liquid air, hydrogen, heat ) Distributed storage could be valuable because of growing pressures at the distribution level local generation and peakier demand
Distributed energy storage globally Korea Integral component of smart grid for integrating renewables and increasing reliability Meeting cooling demands in summer Germany Managing rise in distributed generation from solar PV Maximising use of limited north south transmission US Improving grid operation with integration of renewables Behind the meter arbitrage to reduce energy costs China Mostly large scale
Progress in analysis Value of storage, Strbac et al, key findings The values tend to be higher than previous studies suggest. In scenarios with high renewables: the value of storage increases markedly towards 2030 and further towards 2050 a few hours of storage are sufficient to reduce peak demand and thereby capture significant value. storage has a consistently high value across a wide range of cases that include interconnection and flexible generation. Understanding the balancing challenge, Strbac et al, findings on storage: Depending on the scenario and the assumed cost of storage, the model builds a wide range of capacities of distributed storage (6-22 GW). Sensitive to DSR. Deployment of bulk storage occurs at lower levels than distributed storage. See http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/network/strategy/strategy.aspx and http://www.carbontrust.com/resources/reports/technology/energy-storage-systems-strategicassessment-role-and-value
Barriers to deployment Technology cost and performance: other technologies are currently cheaper Uncertainty of value: the future value is dependent on the energy system mix Business: capturing multiple revenue streams is difficult to establish, both for a potential business and the market in which it will operate Markets: the true value of energy is not reflected in the price; more fundamentally, the future long-term value of storage cannot be recognized in today s market Regulatory/policy framework: restrictions on ownership; paying levies twice Societal: wider community acceptance has not yet been considered
Consortium for Modelling and Analysis of Decentralised Energy Storage (C-MADEnS) Leeds, Birmingham, Warwick; with industry partners inc. Moixa 1.4m / 3 years To establish a major new initiative to provide the tools and knowledge to realise the potential offered by decentralised storage of energy vectors in the city environment. Objectives are to: develop, validate and apply new techno-economic modelling tools to identify where and how distributed energy storage can add most value; validate the characteristics and performance of a range of distributed energy storage technologies, identifying key targets for cost reductions and performance improvements; analyse and develop solutions to overcome non-technical barriers to the deployment of distributed energy storage; and in collaboration with the cities of Birmingham and Leeds, identify real opportunities for future distributed energy storage projects that add value to city energy plans. 11
Conclusions Energy storage could play an important role in a cost-effective transition to low carbon, resilient energy system (globally) Technologies exist which can respond to energy system challenges, their value will increase, costs will reduce However, short-term fixes could crowd the market for more efficient longterm solutions Support needs to be well coordinated and strategic, across the innovation process, research to deployment Think whole system: electricity/heat/cold Innovative policy & regulation needed to provide a market through which value (of flexibility) can be accessed Raises prospect of new business models for energy
THANK YOU j.radcliffe@bham.ac.uk @UKEnergyInnov8 http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/energy