Energy storage system has many applications and advantages, and global energy storage systems are being installed at an unprecedented rate.
Investment in energy storage systems is growing with the development of the grid, creating long-term benefits and reliability for the years ahead. Energy storage is the key hub of the entire grid, increasing resources from wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, and fossil fuels, to demand-side resources and system efficiency assets.
Energy storage system can save operating costs for supplying the grid and can also save money for electricity consumers who install energy storage in their homes and businesses. Energy storage can reduce the cost of providing frequency regulation and standby services, and can save consumers money by storing low-cost energy. By using energy storage during brief interruptions, businesses can avoid power outages and continue normal operations.
Energy storage can provide backup power during interruptions. The same concept of backup power for a single device (such as a smoke alarm inserted into a home but also having a backup battery) can be extended to an entire building or even an entire grid. Energy storage provides flexibility to the grid, ensuring uninterrupted power to consumers anytime, anywhere. This flexibility is critical to improving the reliability and resilience of the energy storage system. As the cost of interruptions continues to rise, the value of enhancing reliability and resilience is also increasing.
Energy storage can smooth the delivery of variable or intermittent resources such as wind and solar energy by storing excess energy when it is windy or sunny, and delivering it when the opposite occurs. The energy storage system can also support efficient power supply for inflexible base load resources. When there is rapid demand fluctuation and the need for flexibility, energy storage can inject or extract power as needed to precisely match the load.
In short, energy storage can save electricity for future needs. This creates efficiency and capacity for the grid, including the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By introducing more flexibility to the grid, the energy storage system can help integrate more solar, wind, and distributed energy resources. It can also improve grid efficiency, increase the capacity factor of existing resources, and offset the need for building new peak power plants that emit pollution. As our energy supply mix becomes cleaner with low-carbon and zero-carbon resources, energy storage helps make the supply mix easier and more reliable to develop.
