The results were gathered from the follow-up survey. Taking into account all respondents, there is equal preference for no specific technology or lithium-ion batteries.
This project was to survey electric utilities, storage vendors, and other stakeholders of the electricity grid concerning their views about the optimal use of Distributed Energy Storage (DES) and the principal barriers that prevent widespread deployment of that technology on the grid. It is intended that that data provided by this report be used to design a program of related and coordinated DES demonstration projects that can most effectively address the issues identified in this report. This article is from the Executive Summary of the report.
To achieve these objectives, DNV GL recommended and executed the following process and methods:
- Identify DES applications that are most likely to provide the greatest value
- Design survey questions and review the whole methodology with EPRI
- Survey utilities and other stakeholders with a follow-up based on their feedback
- Analyze the Survey Results and review them with the NAATBatt Advisory Team
- Establish a subset of viable projects from the above survey and the Advisory Team comments
- Design a method for utilities to share deployment information
The survey results are presented in section 3, the subsequent analysis in section 4, a list of some noteworthy DES projects and project focus recommendations are provided in section 5, and recommended protocols for sharing project information among utilities are provided in section 6. It is the opinion of this report that future government-funded DES projects should focus on demonstrating command and control technologies that will permit the owners and operators of DES systems to optimize the value of the multiple applications that those systems can provide to the grid. Demonstrating the maximization of the economic value of DES storage systems (or their value to the grid, whether or not capable of monetization due to regulatory restrictions) is the most important function that future, government-funded DES demonstration projects can serve.
More demonstration projects of existing storage technology are necessary to move DES technology from theory to reality on the grid. Future demonstration projects should focus on optimizing the economic benefits (or grid benefits) of DES systems. Until utilities can see specific examples of how DES systems can maximize benefits and generate an acceptable return on investment, incenting additional voluntary utility investments in DES systems will be challenging.
For the full report: http://www.dnvgl.com/energy/download/naatbatt.aspx
Filed Under: Energy storage, News, Policy
