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| 30 Jul 2010 05:55:23 pm |
 Storage useful, rarely essential for wind energy |
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Matthew Wald’s article "Wind Drives Growing Use of Batteries" in yesterday's New York Times could give many readers the impression that energy storage is an essential tool for integrating wind energy onto the power grid. In reality, large amounts of wind energy have already been reliably and cost-effectively integrated onto the utility system without the addition of any new energy storage resources. Moreover, numerous studies as well as European wind integration experience have demonstrated that the U.S. could increase its use of wind energy by more than 10-fold without energy storage being needed.
How is this possible? The secret lies in using the sources of flexibility that are already present on the electric grid. Every day, grid operators constantly accommodate variability in electricity demand and supply by increasing and decreasing the output of flexible generators – power plants like hydroelectric dams or natural gas plants that can rapidly change their level of generation. Thus, the water kept behind a dam or the natural gas held in a pipeline may be thought of as a form of energy storage, with operators using this energy when it is needed and "storing" it when it is not. Grid operators also move power from regions with momentary excesses of electricity to other regions that have a need for electricity at that moment. Grid operators use these same flexible resources to accommodate any additional variability introduced by wind energy.
A tremendous amount of flexibility is already built into the power system. Demand for electricity can vary by a factor of three or more depending on the time of day and year, which nationwide translates into hundreds of gigawatts of flexibility that are already built into the power system. Because these power plants and other sources of flexibility have already been built, it is almost always much cheaper to use this flexibility than to build new sources of flexibility like energy storage facilities. Even if these sources of flexibility are eventually saturated, a number of additional low-cost sources of flexibility can be deployed, such as building additional transmission, encouraging additional demand response resources, reforming grid operating procedures, or making the generating fleet more flexible. While continuing advances in energy storage technology can make it more economically competitive as a provider of grid flexibility, it is important to remember that resources like wind energy can already be cost-effectively and reliably integrated with the electric grid without energy storage.
Small island power systems like Hawaii’s are a highly unique case, since geography prevents them from sending excess electricity to neighboring regions, there is often limited access to sources of power system flexibility, the power grid is often very weak, and the price of electricity is often high. Under these very unusual circumstances, projects like the one discussed in Mr. Wald’s article can make economic sense. However, it would be erroneous to extrapolate from these very unique cases to assume that storage is essential for integrating wind, a conclusion that is strongly contradicted by the success of countries like Spain, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, and Ireland reliably and cost-effectively obtaining 10% or more of their electricity from wind energy without adding any storage resources. On several occasions, the main grid operator in Texas has obtained 20% of its electricity from wind energy, also without the use of energy storage.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has reached similar conclusions about energy storage. Quote : At present levels of wind penetration on the electrical grid, storage has not been a priority consideration. But eventually, as a system resource and not exclusively due to wind or other renewable resource capacity additions, the nation's electrical grid will benefit from energy storage technologies. Essentially, the power system already has storage in the form of hydroelectric reservoirs, gas pipelines, gas storage facilities, and coal piles that can provide energy when needed. Read more about how power is balanced on the electricity grid. Today, storing electricity is more expensive than using dispatchable generation. In the future, through advances in technologies such as batteries and compressed air, energy storage may become more cost-attractive.
NREL has also developed an excellent conceptual diagram, which can be found at the top of this blog post, illustrating the wide variety of low-cost flexibility tools grid operators have at their disposal. The diagram diagram shows that grid operators already have a number of tools for reliably and cost-effectively accommodating variability on the power system, including incremental variability introduced by wind energy. Europe and many parts of the U.S. have already successfully used these tools to integrate large amounts of wind energy. For more on energy storage, please see AWEA’s background fact sheet. |
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Category : AWEA News
| Posted By : Chris Madison |
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| 30 Jul 2010 02:42:47 pm |
| Senate Should Debate U.S. Green Job Competitiveness |
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When it comes to the global race for clean energy jobs, the U.S. is sitting on the sidelines, says BusinessWeek's Eric Pooley in this excellent column.
Some selected quotes:
Quote : Right now the U.S. Senate is conducting a master class on the perils of legislation by rearview mirror. On July 27, when Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled the "Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act," the two most powerful clean energy provisions were missing: a cap on carbon emissions from the electric power sector and a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which would require utilities to generate at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2021. ...
Instead of funding U.S. projects, banks and venture capitalists increasingly are putting their energy money into China, where the market is large and secure, thanks to government mandates. In the second quarter, for example, China attracted more clean-tech asset financing than Europe and the U.S. combined ...
[Texas's Renewable Electricity Standard], signed into law by Governor George W. Bush in 1999, has helped the state become a major producer of U.S. wind power, adding almost 10 gigawatts (up from 0.2 in 1999) and thousands of new jobs in the decade since the law was enacted. Although Texas has reduced its carbon emissions as a result of this push into wind energy, Bush and his fellow Texans didn't create the industry because they were worried about global warming. They did it because there was money to be made.
There still is. And if Congress doesn't hurry, most of it is going to be made in China.
We need your help. Please go to powerofwind.com and let your Senators hear from you about the urgent need for this legislation. |
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Category : AWEA News
| Posted By : Tom Gray |
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| 30 Jul 2010 01:49:14 pm |
| AWEA CEO Tapped as a Top Association Leader |
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AWEA CEO Denise Bode has been selected as a "top association leader" for 2010 by CEO Update, a publication for trade association executives.
Bode was cited for reorganizing AWEA's staff to improve its effectiveness: "Revenue-generating functions were merged, while finance, regulatory and PR departments became stand-alone divisions. At the same time, AWEA added new supply chain and financing conferences. And on July 15, the group announced it helped found the new Offshore Wind Development Coalition."
Bode, who came to AWEA with extensive political and energy experience, took the reins of the Association on January 1, 2009. |
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Category : AWEA News
| Posted By : Tom Gray |
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