Energy storage rapidly becoming a marketable commodity

October 7, 2013

For energy consumers, both in the public sector and among private commercial entities, the ability to store energy is a clear factor driving electric demand solutions. If organizations are able to accumulate power resources and save them up over the long haul, they will have a valuable commodity on their hands that they can buy, sell and trade, giving them more economic clout.

It used to be that such storage procedures were unrealistic, as organizations lacked the technology and the financial wherewithal to collect and save energy. Now, though, times are changing. Energy storage is moving into the spotlight as a key development this decade.

According to The Energy Collective, a new mandate in California is the development making all this innovation possible. Energy traders everywhere - around the U.S. and in Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy and Japan as well - are watching closely as the state government works to drive energy storage growth.

California plans to develop 1.325 gigawatts' worth of energy storage capability by 2020. Steve Minnihan of Lux Research in Boston says that California's actions will have a ripple effect globally, driving growth "at a torrid pace."

Minnihan noted that energy storage had "a rough couple of years" before California stepped in. A series of setbacks including fires, bankruptcies and withdrawals were dampening the market, and among the 10 battery storage manufacturers that accounted for 93 percent of the global market, seven were slowed by one of these disasters.

Thanks to the actions of the California Public Utility Commission, the state's power grid will now be bolstered by a variety of energy storage options.

Demand wavers
According to the United States Department of Energy, the amount of electricity that a source generates is relatively fixed over short periods of time, though demand is not necessarily as constant.

Need for energy is often a seasonal phenomenon - people in cold climates need more in the winter, while those in hotter areas need energy for air conditioning in the summer. Thanks to improved energy storage technologies, it will be easier for energy trading companies to save power for when consumers need it most.

According to the DOE, this would represent a major breakthrough in electricity distribution. It would make energy storage companies more powerful and, ultimately, consumers happier.