Green Energy Storage
I went to a panel discussion the other night on Green Energy and Grid-connected Storage:
Grid Energy Storage - The Next Big Thing?
http://www.mitcnc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=muIZLaMMJrE&b=5962243&ct=8212919¬oc=1
Energy policy in the US and Europe requires tremendous increases in renewable energy generation as well as investments in a smarter grid. Very little electrical power storage exists today, about 10% in Europe and 2.5% in the US, yet many industry experts argue that much more storage will be required both to compensate for renewables’ inherent intermittency and leverage the future Smart Grid investment. Many companies are working on battery or other energy storage technologies that can be located near large renewable generation sites, or within the grid and near the customer.
There is obviously value in being able to shift load, to "charge one's batteries" at night (whether for vehicles, household, commercial, or industrial uses during the day). However, as for the concern of blowing out the grid because too much wind comes online at, say, 1am in Texas, which has already happened, I wonder if we couldn't build a "dump" in the form of desalination plants on the coast? California is chronically short water, and desalination takes a tremendous amount of energy -- if a plant were built and not really operated during the day (or self powered with solar during daylight), there's ample capacity in the grid to dispatch excess power from excess wind or hydro and dump it at a desal plant at night.
I can think of a few potential sites off the top of my head -- Diablo Canyon Power Plant (PG&E's nuclear station), Moss Landing (previously PG&E, now Dynegy?), Humboldt Bay (previously nuclear, then oil, now gas).
Maybe the best solution for excess intermittent generation is not to store it but to use it.
Grid Energy Storage - The Next Big Thing?
http://www.mitcnc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=muIZLaMMJrE&b=5962243&ct=8212919¬oc=1
Energy policy in the US and Europe requires tremendous increases in renewable energy generation as well as investments in a smarter grid. Very little electrical power storage exists today, about 10% in Europe and 2.5% in the US, yet many industry experts argue that much more storage will be required both to compensate for renewables’ inherent intermittency and leverage the future Smart Grid investment. Many companies are working on battery or other energy storage technologies that can be located near large renewable generation sites, or within the grid and near the customer.
There is obviously value in being able to shift load, to "charge one's batteries" at night (whether for vehicles, household, commercial, or industrial uses during the day). However, as for the concern of blowing out the grid because too much wind comes online at, say, 1am in Texas, which has already happened, I wonder if we couldn't build a "dump" in the form of desalination plants on the coast? California is chronically short water, and desalination takes a tremendous amount of energy -- if a plant were built and not really operated during the day (or self powered with solar during daylight), there's ample capacity in the grid to dispatch excess power from excess wind or hydro and dump it at a desal plant at night.
I can think of a few potential sites off the top of my head -- Diablo Canyon Power Plant (PG&E's nuclear station), Moss Landing (previously PG&E, now Dynegy?), Humboldt Bay (previously nuclear, then oil, now gas).
Maybe the best solution for excess intermittent generation is not to store it but to use it.