IESW2022: Key Takeaways from Global Energy Storage Outlook

Globally, battery energy storage is experiencing a golden age and will fundamentally transform the power and renewable energy sectors in the coming years by gaining significant traction in various international markets, speakers said at the India Energy Storage Week 2022 (IESW2022). The session was dedicated to discussing the global outlook for the energy storage industry and briefly presenting the progress of the industry in the global market.

Dr. Imre Gyuk, director of energy storage research at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity, said that in the United States, energy storage has achieved great success. We have done a good job in short-term energy storage by developing viable business models, assessment and planning tools, etc. He observed that ES has made great achievements in frequency regulation, smoothing renewable energy, reducing charging demand and deferred substation upgrades.

He said energy storage of various durations will be needed in the future, including short, medium and long term. He added: "While the recent COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical instability have exposed key supply chain issues, we still need around 1,200 to 2,300GWh of energy storage."

In addition, Dr. Gyuk pointed out that existing lithium-ion technologies lack ecologically and sociologically sustainable sources, as well as issues with safety, reliability and recycling.

Lithium-ion batteries are best suited for short-duration (15 minutes to 4 hours) energy storage, while for medium-duration day/night photovoltaic (PV) energy storage, flow batteries are developing. For long-duration energy storage (LDS), thermal or gravity energy storage (ES) are preferred, he said, adding that a viable business case for long-duration energy storage systems (LDES) is critical to its progress.

When talking about the EU's sustainable energy goals for 2030 and 2050, Patrick Clerens, Secretary General of EASE, said that the target requirement for 2030 should be around 150GW, of which 40% should be renewable energy. He expects that the proportion of variable renewable energy will exceed 85% in 2050, and EASE expects that the EU's energy storage demand will reach about 600GW.

Patrick also pointed out some big trends in clean energy storage. These include the evolution of a technology-neutral definition of energy storage, the system operator’s move towards market-based tendering for flexibility services, and high renewable energy procurement targets opening up the possibility for more services.

He noted that in the EU, the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF) has the potential to play a decisive role in accelerating the development of energy storage, with three of the seven flagship areas for investment and reform being of particular interest to energy storage. Regional partnerships are at the heart of the European Commission's new generation of EU instruments as a post-pandemic strategy to promote the sustainability of European economies and support the transition to a green and digital economy.

He also added that concerns about the overall cost of energy storage should be addressed by deploying energy storage facilities and developing new technologies as early as possible in India. Aditya Trivedi, BD director of AES India, also held a similar view, believing that without battery energy storage technology, any renewable energy solution in the country will be limited. He added that this is why we need ES applications and we must keep the development of this technology agnostic to meet customized needs across multiple applications and options, he added.

In an effort to address the recent supply chain crisis in battery manufacturing, speakers agreed that the energy storage industry could be made easier to grow in the future by identifying new reserves, expanding mining globally, and increasing the recycled content of battery manufacturing.

(Original source: Energy Technology Global Energy Storage Network, New Energy Network Comprehensive)