Despite the huge strides energy storage has made, significant hurdles remain before the technology in its many guises can be claimed to have fulfilled its massive potential. E-S.n editor Andy Colthorpe assesses the key successes and ongoing challenges for this indispensable part of the future power system.
Battery storage operators in the UK could be set for a raft of new opportunities after the country’s system operator National Grid called for a review of security standards.
The dramatic fall in cost, occuring alongside the mass roll-out of home storage systems in Germany since 2013, has highlighted the potential of decentralised batteries in virtual power plants to utility companies and grid operators.
Gone are Europe’s weekly FCR auctions, replaced by daily auctions in a move designed to create greater flexibility and improve international co-operation in these markets in Europe, writes Jean-Paul Harreman of EnAppSys.
A £55 million (US$67.8 million) fund has been earmarked for five projects in the UK looking at developing the next generation of battery storage technology.
Enabling batteries to be repaired, upgraded and reused when no longer suitable for their first life will have social as well as environmental benefits, Amrit Chandan, CEO of Aceleron, argues.
The UK’s regulator, Ofgem, is hoping to eradicate the double-charging of storage assets through the addition of a formal definition of energy storage to the regulatory framework.
