IHS Markit has produced a white paper outlining the need to incorporate storage into the electricity grid. The report uses the development of other networks, particularly that of data, as an example of how storage could be effectively implemented.
As well as storage, the report, available here, highlights communications infrastructure – which can be provided by smart technologies – as key to increasing grid efficiency and ensuring that available power is utilized in an efficient way.
Using New York as an example, IHS say that the current system, whereby customers pay for idle capacity which is only required at peak times, is costing an additional $2 billion each year. “This suggests that on a global scale,” say IHS, “hundreds of billions of dollars could be saved each year.”
Declining costs for storage technology were a key driver for its adoption in data networks, and IHS expect a similar trajectory for electricity. “The data network has incorporated a significant amount of storage to provide flexibility and resiliency,” says the report. “Lithium-ion battery technology has a similar cost-reduction profile to SSD data storage, and will enable the electricity network to incorporate multiple hours of storage.”
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.