This is the overview and intro to a report by Energy Storage Update.
With the announcement of California’s energy storage procurement target of 1,325 MW by 2020, and other states working hard to follow in their footsteps, developers are now focused on moving storage technologies from demonstration to commercialization. However, from increasing efficiencies and the reducing costs of existing technologies to securing investment for commercial deployment, there are still a number of roadblocks that must be overcome to commercialize storage technologies.
This guide explores the current status of energy storage commercialization and provides insight into the role of banks and venture capital in bringing technologies to market. It also explores the positive impact that California’s storage mandate could have on market growth, as well as the key lessons that can be learned from other renewable technologies to achieve commercialization.
Introduction
There has never been a better time to talk about energy storage in the United States. Barely a year ago the need for grid-scale energy storage was infrequently appreciated and even more rarely discussed. Now it is being mandated.
California, which leads the nation in green energy ambition, has been the first state to wake up to the need to store, for a variety of uses, at least some of the excess power that will be coming off its growing wind and solar portfolio. The California Public Utilities Commission’s Assembly Bill 2514 (AB 2514), approved last October, requires utilities to add energy storage to their grids. Puerto Rico followed suit in December, with a mandate for storage to be added to new renewable energy developments. Texas, America’s biggest electricity consumer and largest wind power producer, is similarly tipped to become an energy storage hotspot. Elsewhere, energy storage is already being embraced to help improve the efficiency and longevity of existing grid infrastructure. In short, energy storage is coming of age in the U.S., but there are still uncertainties over which technologies will dominate this market and how current players can best position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities before them. This guide examines present thinking around the options for these players, asking:
- What is the current state of commercialization of energy storage technologies?
- What role can banks and venture capital investors play in commercialization?
- What impact will the Californian AB 2514 mandate have on the market?
- How will today’s demonstration projects benefit commercialization?
- What can energy storage learn from other clean-tech sectors?
Current and announced energy storage capacity in the U.S. (source: “Grid Energy Storage,” U.S. Department of Energy, Dec. 2013)
Read the full report here.
Filed Under: Energy storage, Financing, News, Policy
