Energy storage has been putting a crimp into renewable energy production and technical development for since the inception of alternative power methods. Energy storage at the utility level has been studied and implemented and today the result is far more than stacks if lithium batteries for power stowage. One only needs to look at the recent smart grid utility storage developments for the latest advances.
The Department of Energy {DOE] recently released a plan to inject six hundred twenty million dollars in stimulus financing toward thirty two smart grid projects and that will be augmented by a further one billion dollars in private investment. Over the next few years, seven hundred seventy million dollars will be spent on energy storage development allowing for numerous energy storing methods to see the light of day, gain traction, and log some time with real world action. The money will be coming from government and industry funding.
One of those projects for energy storage will be compressed air energy storage and flow batteries, both techniques hardly talked about only a few years back. Also noteworthy by their inclusion are the use of flywheels and utilizing batteries for dispersing energy storage throughout various districts.
It is not expected that all the funded projects will show immediate commercial viability. However, storage has definitely surfaced as a critical part of the smart grid technology. Some new ventures are producing technology they anticipate will tackle certain storage applications or challenge pumped hydro current, right now thought to be the least expensive type of utility stowing based on cost. Pumped hydro means water is forced uphill and discharged at critical periods in order to work a generator though this is often restricted by geography.
A number of the sixteen DOE energy storing grants were concentrated on means of storing wind energy, an inconsistent method of energy production. For instance, In California the Pacific Gas & Electric utility is planning on storing the wind generated power in the evening, this is when production, inside of subterranean caves. In the daylight hours as grid supply is heightened, the air is discharged via a turbine to produce current.
The benefits of subterranean power storage is it can e less money than battery storage and able to trap numerous hours of energy. PG&E predicts that their Kern County, California facility can transport three hundred megawatts of electrical current for ten hours and have an ability to provide for many thousands of residences.
Yet one more method that is novel is utilizing steel storage tanks for compressed air, an idea under development by a spinoff venture out of a college in Dartmouth, known as SustainX. The forced air is discharged to operate a hydraulic motor in order to operate a generator that makes electricity.
Flow batteries under consideration in the meantime use tanks of fluid electrolyte liquids. When these two fluids intermingle, a chemical reaction results that causes a flow of current.
The benefit of this type of storage is that huge quantities can be stowed away and released rapidly when required according to experts. A particular project will be using knowledge and prototypes from Premium Power, the maker zinc flow batteries the size of tractor trailers in order to have a consistent power flowing on the grid able to provide energy at peak periods of usage.
The number of unique technologies out there speaks a lot about the broad view of power storage technologies available or under evaluation. The flywheels manufactured by the award winning Beacon Power, for instance has the capability to absorb and release many megawatts of energy into the grid but this is only possible now in fifteen minute surges. Yet, flywheels are creating more notice due to the fact they are polluting free alternatives to the natural gas fired plants being utilized currently to cover any short term power instability within the grid system.
Oversized batteries will also be evaluated for a longer period to evaluate their worthiness for grid power storage. Duke Energy is proposing the use of multiple battery varieties for twenty megawatts of power delivery to the NoTrees Wind Power program in the state of Texas. This Hybrid battery unit is being engineered for two jobs: To compensate for short term grid instability and to provide hours of power during the daytime.
The Portland General Power Utility has a proposal to build five batteries from an automotive battery supplier Ener1 to provide suitable current to energize four hundred residences for up to one hour. There will be alternate sources of chemistries that include lead carbine batteries from East Penn Manufacturing coming into use.
Another program will be evaluating the use of preowned car batteries for grid storage. Lithium ion plug in automobile batteries by A123 Systems will be utilized to provide twenty five kilowatts for two hours in twenty regional energy storage programs. The action of lithium ion batteries deteriorates after a good number of years powering an automobile; however, they still contain enough storage and energy capability to function fine with the grid, according to utility experts.
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