Long duration energy storage is needed to help decarbonize the electric grid

By Rich Glick

This week, many of the world’s biggest energy companies and energy innovators will meet in Houston at CERAWeek 2024. The topic of the day will be the ongoing clean energy transition, as policymakers and companies strive to achieve net zero carbon emissions goals.

Emissions-free renewable energy is playing an increasingly important role in the U.S. electricity sector. Due in large part to the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, solar and wind power alone are expected to supply half of the country’s power by 2030.?

While wind and solar power offer substantial benefits for consumers and the environment, these technologies are intermittent. That is why energy storage plays an important role in keeping the lights on. By storing renewable electricity when it is plentiful (such as the middle of a sunny day), so that it can be available during other times (such as when the sun sets), utilities will more easily be able to ensure the reliability of our electric grid.?

Battery-powered energy storage is increasingly being deployed to address the intermittency of wind and solar power. The most commonly deployed battery technology – lithium-ion – while valuable, has limitations. Lithium-ion batteries generally can only provide up to four hours worth of energy at a time. Long duration energy storage can provide backup power from eight hours to multiple days. These technologies will also be needed to ensure the electric grid is resilient and reliable as our dependence on intermittent electric generation technologies continues to grow.

Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES), developed by Hydrostor, is one such technology already being deployed to facilitate the clean energy transition. A-CAES takes traditional compressed air energy storage technology –compressing air when clean energy is plentiful and storing it underground and pushing the air through turbines when the power is most needed – and makes it emissions free through the use of pressurized water to move the air to generate electricity.

A-CAES can provide energy for at least ten 10 hours– about the length of time on an average night that the sun remains set. Once built, A-CAES facilities have a lifespan of more than 50 years, taking us well into the next phase of the energy transition. Hydrostor , which developed the technology, has an A-CAES facility that is already operating in Ontario, Canada, providing backup power to the grid, and two others are in the late stages of development in California and Australia.

The electric grid is experiencing a dramatic and necessary transformation that will take advantage of the tremendous renewable energy resources located throughout the United States. Deployment of a variety of energy storage technologies, both lithium-ion batteries and long duration, each with their own advantages, will be critical for helping to ensure that the grid remains reliable and consumers have access to affordable energy as we move to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.?

Rich Glick will be discussing the transformation of the grid and the need for long duration energy storage in a Pod Session at the CERAWeek Innovation Agora on the 2nd?floor, on Wednesday, March 20, at 2 pm, in conversation with Hydrostor President Jon Norman . Let us know if you can join us.

About Rich

Rich Glick Glick was a Commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission between 2017 and early 2023. He was designated to serve as Chairman of the Commission by President Biden in January, 2021. He currently is a Principal with GQ New Energy Strategies, LLC and is a member of Hydrostor’s Advisory Board. He will be participating in a discussion about Long Duration Energy Storage at CERAWeek on March 20.?