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The demand for electricity is seldom constant over time. Excess generating capacity available during periods of low demand can be used to charge an energy storage device. The stored energy can then be used to provide electricity during periods of high demand, helping to reduce power system loads during these times.
Energy storage can improve the efficiency and reliability of the electric utility system by reducing the requirements for spinning reserves to meet peak power demands, making better use of efficient baseload generation, and allowing greater use of renewable energy technologies.
Many renewable resources — wind and solar power, for example — are intermittent, i.e., they are not available all of the time. Storing energy from the renewable source allows supply to more closely match demand. For example, a storage system attached to a wind turbine could store energy captured around the clock — whenever the wind blows — and then dispatch that energy into the higher priced midday market. And energy storage allows solar electricity to be used at night.
Utilities are now planning how to use technologies such as energy storage and renewable generation in a deregulated, competitive, and more environmentally conscious power market. By reducing peak demands for power generation and offering greater flexibility among power supply options (including renewables), energy storage systems not only help utilities by improving their cost-effectiveness, reliability, power quality and efficiency, they also reduce the environmental impact of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. Given declining utility investment in R&D, federal investment in storage R&D will favorably impact reliability and cost, and could accelerate adoption of renewable energy technologies.
See the following links for information on various energy storage technologies in use or under consideration by electric utilities:
For more information, visit the Energy Storage Program in DOE's Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution.
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