Zinc8 was mentiomed in below article / excerpts:
Energy storage in recent years has been touted as a potential holy grail for the power sector and the technology continues to see impressive growth in the U.S. in terms of deployments.
With continued growth in wind and solar power, long duration energy storage is seen by some as a key way in which to help smooth the country´s transition to a future where renewable energy plays a central role in the overall power supply mix and the push for decarbonization continues apace.
Long-duration storage is still in the early stage of the product maturity curve and there are many economic and operational challenges that must be addressed if it is to play a key role in supporting the grid.
Why long duration energy storage?
The increased interest in long-duration storage "stems from a growing appreciation and acknowledgement of the need for firm´ low-carbon energy resources to complement variable renewable generators like wind and solar," noted Dr. Scott Litzeleman, Program Director at the Department of Energy´s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and Max Tuttman, a Technology-to-Market Advisor at ARPA-E, in an April 2020 blog.
Longer durations "will be needed to displace more capital-intensive baseload and load-following plants (which run at some level of output for most hours). If this can be achieved at a price point where the capital needed to build and operate" a long duration storage system is less than the savings from displacing infrastructure like a load-following power plant, then the opportunities for long duration storage "will begin to flourish."
While the current generation of lithium-ion batteries "can thrive at shorter durations, where the value that they generate exceeds their cost," cost increases more rapidly with duration than long duration storage technologies.
Conversely, long duration storage, "due to its more expensive power components, may struggle to be profitable at shorter durations, but its more gradual cost curve enables deployment in scenarios where there are jumps in value" caused by the deferment or displacement assets needed for reliability.
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Report looks at the role of long duration energy storage in deep decarbonization
The World Resources Institute (WRI) in September 2020 released an issue brief aimed at informing policymakers about the state of storage technologies and how utility-scale storage, including long-duration storage, can support a decarbonized grid.
The issue brief, "The Role of Long-Duration Energy Storage in Deep Decarbonization: Policy Considerations," said that long duration storage has the potential to support deep decarbonization of the U.S. power sector.
"Storage could play an expanded role in providing sufficient capacity and energy to meet demand at all hours as more variable renewable energy sources come online. Modeling studies of 100 percent clean energy and deep-decarbonization scenarios suggest that long-duration storage technologies could help address future grid needs when storm events reduce renewable generation for days and when seasonal variability of renewable supply extends for weeks," WRI said.
"However, many studies show a greater need to address these issues when wind and solar exceed 50-60 percent of generation and that shorter-duration storage (four-hour batteries) could address near-term grid need," the issue brief noted.
Long duration storage "will need to compete economically with alternative technologies and operational strategies, and the ability to increase long-duration storage capacity will depend on achieving significant cost reductions," WRI went on to say in the issue brief.
"Studies show that seasonal storage technologies would have to decrease substantially in cost potentially by several orders of magnitude to compete with alternative solutions such as dispatchable clean energy generation, load shifting, excess renewables capacity, conventional generating capacity with carbon capture, and transmission," the issue brief said.
The issue brief offered the following recommendations for policymakers:
-- Encourage further development of long-duration storage to widen the range of options available to address grid needs in coming years;
-- Drive improved understanding of regional grid needs and how storage could contribute to deep decarbonization;
-- Support and encourage innovation in storage technology for future grid applications; and
-- Develop new financing and procurement models that better match the needs of long-duration storage assets
In a section of the report that addresses current policy, market and regulatory drivers of utility-scale storage, WRI said that the degree of state involvement in demonstration projects varies greatly.
It noted, for example, that the New York Power Authority (NYPA) took a strong role by hosting an "innovation challenge" that led to a demonstration of zinc-air technology for providing long-duration storage and facilitating renewable integration.
In January 2020, NYPA announced a collaboration with an energy storage company to develop a demonstration energy storage system, using new zinc-air energy storage technology, in New York State.
The project, selected as a winner through the NYPA Innovation Challenge, will have the ability to provide back-up power, help level grid demand, and move the state further toward a carbon-free electric grid supported by renewable energy resources, NYPA noted.
NYPA connected with Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc., a Vancouver, B.C. developer and manufacturer of long-duration, low-cost zinc-air energy storage solutions, through its NYPA Innovation Challenge, which was launched in May of 2019 in collaboration with the New York University Tandon School of Engineering´s Urban Future Lab (UFL).
NYPA said it selected Zinc8 Energy Solutions´ zinc-air energy storage technology to demonstrate energy storage and demand management that can help build longer duration flexibility into the grid and optimize the role storage resources play.
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