Sunday, September 1, 2013

Energy Storage Application 6: Transmission and Distribution Support

Energy storage can provide power quality and regulation support to the transmission and distribution (T&D) system in the same way that energy storage provides these services to the electricity generation side of the grid. Just as energy storage can be used to defer generation system upgrades, it can also be used to defer investment and upgrades to the T&D equipment (Eyer & Corey, 2010). T&D equipment upgrade deferral is a particularly good application for energy storage because often upgrades are needed to compensate for relatively modest power and energy increase requirements. Small modular energy storage systems can be deployed at locations in the T&D system where congestion or equipment failure is greatest, in order to cover demand peaks that usually happen only a few days a year. The alternative is often a large equipment investment with a capacity well beyond what is actually needed. The modest, incremental, storage investment would free up capital for other projects while improving utility asset utilization (Eyer & Corey, 2010)
It is interesting to note that there are nearly 100,000 lead-acid battery energy storage systems currently deployed at utility substations in the US. These storage systems are critical to providing power to substation communications and control equipment when electricity is not flowing through the grid; much in the same way that energy storage can support the blackstart of generation equipment. These lead-acid battery storage systems provide a benchmark and an opportunity for future energy storage technology of this size (EPRI, 2003).

Works Cited

EPRI. (2003). EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission & Distribution Applications. Washington DC: EPRI, Palo Alto, CA, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Eyer, J., & Corey, G. (2010). Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid: Benefits and Market Potential Assessment Guide. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Sandia National Laboratories.



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