Renewables energy storage demand set for rapid growth
Global installed energy storage capacity for grid and ancillary services is forecast to grow from an annual market of 1.1GW in 2016 to 21.6GW in 2025, according to Navigant’s Energy Storage for the Grid & Ancillary Services report.
Six applications are identified in the report, which span short and long duration energy storage: peak pricing arbitrage, generation capacity, transmission and distribution (T&D) asset capacity, frequency regulation, volt/volt-ampere reaction (VAR) support and renewables ramping/smoothing.
Energy storage for generation capacity is expected to be the largest application throughout the forecast period, and the second fastest growing.
Frequency regulation-type grid ancillary services are also driving demand for grid-scale energy storage today, accounting for the second largest application by share, in megawatts, Navigant said.
However, growth in demand for energy storage for frequency regulation is expected to plateau over the forecast period, accounting for about 2.9GW of demand in 2025.
In deregulated power markets, such as PJM Interconnection’s in the US, rules have been established to compensate energy storage providers of frequency regulation services.
Providers of the service are paid more the better their assets perform. Fast responding energy storage has the highest rating, significantly improving grid efficiency overall, partly by enabling other resources to respond to other frequency imbalances more effectively.
Collectively all resources can therefore work more efficiently to balance supply and demand.
Ramping/smoothing
Over the next decade, demand for energy storage for renewables ramping/smoothing will see the fast rate of growth, according to Navigant’s study.
Renewables ramping/smoothing typically requires energy storage systems to have a 0.5-2 hour duration.
