Energy storage technologies

Different energy storage technologies contribute to electricity stability

by working at various stages of the grid, from generation to consumer
end-use.

Thermal Storage

Thermal storage is used for electricity generation by using power from

the sun, even when the sun is not shining. Concentrating solar plants
can capture heat from the sun and store the energy in water, molten
salts, or other fluids. This stored energy is later used to generate
electricity, enabling the use of solar energy even after sunset.

Plants like these are currently operating or proposed in California,

Arizona, and Nevada [4]. For example, the proposed Rice Solar Energy
Project in Blythe, California will use a molten salt storage system with
a concentrating solar tower to provide power for approximately
68,000 homes each year [5].

Thermal storage technologies also exist for end-use energy storage. One

method is freezing water at night using off-peak electricity, then
releasing the stored cold energy from the ice to help with air
conditioning during the day [6].

For example, Ice Energy’s Ice Bear system creates a block of ice at
night, and then uses the ice during the day to condense the air
conditioning system’s refrigerant [7]. In this way, the Ice Bear system
shifts the building’s electricity consumption from the daytime peak to
off-peak times when the electricity is less expensive. Additionally, the
Bonneville Power Administration is conducting a pilot program on
storing excess wind generation in residential water heaters [8].

Compressed Air

Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) also works as

a generation storage technology by using the elastic potential energy of
compressed air to improve the efficiencies of conventional gas
turbines. 
CAES systems compress air using electricity during off-peak times,
and then store the air in underground caverns. During times of peak
demand, the air is drawn from storage and fired with natural gas in a
combustion turbine to generate electricity [9]. This method uses only a
third of the natural gas used in conventional methods [10]. Because
CAES plants require some sort of underground reservoir, they are
limited by their locations. Two commercial CAES plants currently
operate in Huntorf, Germany and MacIntosh, Alabama, though plants
have been proposed in other parts of the United States.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen can be used as a zero-carbon fuel for generation. Excess

electricity can be used to create hydrogen, which can be stored and
used later in fuel cells, engines, or gas turbines to generate electricity
without producing harmful emissions [11]. NREL has studied the
potential for creating hydrogen from wind power and storing it in the
wind turbine towers for electricity generation when the wind isn’t
blowing [12].

Pumped Hydroelectric Storage

Pumped hydroelectric storage offers a way to store energy at the

grid’s transmission stage, by storing excess generation for later use. 

Many hydroelectric power plants include two reservoirs at different

elevations. These plants store energy by pumping water into the upper
reservoir when supply exceeds demand. When demand exceeds
supply, the water is released into the lower reservoir by running
downhill through turbines to generate electricity.

With more than 22 GW of installed capacity in the United States,

pumped hydro storage is the largest storage system operating today
[13]. However, the long permitting process and high cost of pumped
storage makes further projects unlikely.

Flywheels
Flywheels can provide a variety of benefits to the grid at either
the transmission or distribution level, by storing electricity in the form of
a spinning mass. 

The device is shaped liked a cylinder and contains a large rotor inside
a vacuum. When the flywheel draws power from the grid, the rotor
accelerates to very high speeds, storing the electricity as rotational
energy. To discharge the stored energy, the rotor switches to
generation mode, slows down, and runs on inertial energy, thus
returning electricity to the grid [14].

Flywheels typically have long lifetimes and require little maintenance.

The devices also have high efficiencies and rapid response times.
Because they can be placed almost anywhere, flywheels can be located
close to the consumers and store electricity for distribution.

While a single flywheel device has a typical capacity on the order of

kilowatts, many flywheels can be connected in a “flywheel farm” to
create a storage facility on the order of megawatts [15]. Beacon
Power’s Stephentown Flywheel Energy Storage Plant in New York is
the largest flywheel facility in the United States, with an operating
capacity of 20 MW [16].

Batteries

Batteries, like those in a flashlight or cell phone, can also be used to

store energy on a large scale. 

Like flywheels, batteries can be located anywhere so they are often

seen as storage for distribution, when a battery facility is located near
consumers to provide power stability; or end-use, like batteries in
electric vehicles. 

There are many different types of batteries that have large-scale

energy storage potential, including sodium-sulfur, metal air, lithium
ion, and lead-acid batteries. There are several battery installations at
wind farms; including the Notrees Wind Storage Demonstration
Project in Texas, which uses a 36 MW battery facility to help ensure
stability of the power supply even when the wind isn’t blowing [17].
Advancements in battery technologies have been made largely due to
the expanding electric vehicle (EV) industry. As more developments
are made with EVs, battery cost should continue to decline [18].
Electric vehicles could also have an impact on energy storage through
vehicle-to-grid technologies, in which their batteries can be connected
to the grid and discharge power for others to use.