Energy storage can help solve renewable energy's intermittency issues

December 19, 2014

Intermittency problems continue to be a thorn in the side of renewable energy supporters. The Energy Collective explained that current renewable energy sources are too inconsistent to rely on for meeting the energy demands of the United States. Even if energy collected annually by renewable sources exceeded the nation's demand, it would be impossible to reliably supply a power grid at peak demand on a daily basis with renewable sources alone. Thankfully, the renewable energy industry is fast exploring the benefits of energy storage. Likewise, the nation's legislators are wising up on energy storage's potential for dealing with intermittency and have begun to clear a legal path for greater adoption.

Storage on the rise
Energy storage projects come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, from high-tech batteries installed at wind farms to large campuses utilizing thermal storage solutions to facilitate cooling. Janice Lin, chairwoman of the Global Energy Storage Alliance, optimistically announced that energy storage has moved "beyond the tipping point," according to Yale Environment 360. The numbers certainly seem to back up Lin's assertion - data collected by Navigant Research revealed that over 360 MW of energy storage projects have been launched around the globe in the past year as the industry works to resolve intermittency of solar and wind. A large percentage of those projects are coming about in the United States. The Department of Energy noted that over 100 stateside energy storage projects are currently under construction or in their planning stages. 

Policy follows innovation
While the federal government has yet to pass any widespread legislation supporting adoption, the Department of Energy did complete a technology overview of energy storage in 2013, exploring how the technology can help to offset the problems caused by the nation's aging power grid, noted Yale Environment 360. While progress in Washington has been slow, many state governments have been hard at work expanding the state's capacity to store energy through subsidies and new legislation. For instance, California passed a law last year requiring the state's major utilities to integrate at least  1.3 GW of energy storage over the next six years. Deployment of energy storage is bound to increase if the technology is shown to help offset the steep power demands of California's dense populations. The state's sharp peak demands for electricity will demonstrate how storage is an ideal solution for resolving intermittency issues. Such results would in turn inspire legislation in other states in favor of energy storage, similar to the arc traveled by solar energy on the way to the industry's boom.

Shifting the grid
Energy storage is an ideal method of countering problems caused by intermittency, but implementation of the technology is still limited by the makeup of the nation's power grid. Constructed in a time when fossil fuel generation seemed limitless, the current power grid is designed to take in a constant stream of power from generators that are in essence forms of stored energy. The grid is also very fragmented, acting as a network of smaller grids owned by various companies, utilities and local government agencies, reported the American Council on Renewable Energy. This lack of connectivity makes it difficult for renewable power generated on one side of a given state to benefit residents on the other side. Consolidating the grid and integrating more energy storage is a great way to resolve these problems and make electricity more widely accessible. This movement toward consolidation is likely to pick up steam as greater attention is paid to the intermittency issues that are holding back renewable energy.