crtoca

On EESAT and Energy Storage Opportunities on the Smart Grid

How things can change in a year. The VRB flow battery is no longer available from a publicly traded company. However, the VC's that own Prudent Energy, successor to VRB Power, may be able to recoup their investment via an IPO within just a couple of years.
http:utility-savings.com
http:pdenregy.com

PG&E Wants DOE Dollars for Underground Air Energy Storage

How can you say that CAES is less expensive than advanced batteries? Have you included the cost of fuel for CAES? Remember, the compressed air is used to run natural gas turbines. And what about the efficiency loss? Compressors take wind power and force it into the ground - requiring energy. How many btu's are burned to run the compressor and natural gas turbines? Subtract that from the wind energy. And include the transformer losses at the facility. And have you included O&M costs to run the compressor and gas turbines? There are "2" CAES projects in the world and experts can say with authority that CAES is cheaper - on what volume of data?

I work with an advanced energy storage system, the vanadium redox flow battery, and I know the costs, I know the efficiencies, I know that I can build one within 12 months without major political turmoil. Give me the 10 years it will take for the Iowa project and I can have more than 300 MW at distributed locations where the energy is needed, without more transmission lines. And, the distributed batteries will provide back-up power, grid security, improved power quality, savings in distribution upgrades and demand response - what is the value for that? The PG&E CAES project is just another opportunity to spend lots of ratepayer money on a huge R&D project with uncertain political and environmental problems that may never get built.

More information on the vanadium redox flow battery - VRB-ESS - is at Utility-Savings.com.

Storage: The Best Renewable Energy Integration Strategy?

Don't count out the vanadium redox battery (VRB). VRB Power is out of business but the technology was picked up by a larger company with deeper pockets - which any emerging technology absolutely needs. Utility-Savings for more details. So you can recommend the technology again.

Regarding "cheap" storage media, don't forget the poor round-trip efficiency of molten salt and the true costs of trying to site pumped hydro and CAES. Environmental concerns and the very specific locational requirements make pumped hydro and CAES very iffy. And include the round trip efficiency of CAES - including the need to burn natural gas - and distributed advanced batteries like NAS and VRB make sense. The price will come down with economies of scale.

Alternative Energy Storage: Why Frequency Regulation Is Important

You mention the need to place regulation resources in selected service areas. However, the various regulated grid operators - Independent System Operators (ISO) - like the California ISO (CAISO) - maintain markets that pay generators to provide frequency regulation, and there is no limitation or advantage on location for this service. Although it should make sense to place an energy storage system at the location of a frequency problem, like a wind farm, the current system allows the farms to push all their energy, and grid instability issues, into the larger grid. The ISO then buys frequency regulation services to manage the entire grid. The ISO accepts FR service from any generator in the larger grid, regardless of location.

Also, I disagree with your assertion that batteries, etc., don't have the "brute capacity" of compressed air or pumped hydro. It seems to me that a 100 MW battery system should have the same capacity as a 100 MW compressed air or pumped hydro system (although some would argue that the fast response from advanced energy storage devices would allow for smaller capacity systems providing superior service). Advanced Energy Systems (AES) can be scaled up to any size or distributed where needed. Compressed Air Energy Systems (CAES), which only exist in a couple of locations, and pumped hydro, sound great on a drawing board, but have such geographically restrictive requirements that they are of only limited potential value.

Energy Storage Opportunities After the Market Carnage

VRB is excluded? In favor of "developing" technology? The technology and promise of the VRB technology won't go away because the company ran out of money. I thought with your "carnage" and "blood in the streets" lead in, you would be saying that an IP like the VRB would be a great opportunity. The manufacturing facility is established and the technology is mature. Much missionary work has been done to position the technology for energy storage sales. Which is a better opportunity, a developing company or an established technology? The problem with VRB is not the tech or the company, the problem is the market - which is the same for all the advanced energy companies - the market has not yet been ready for the technology. VRB just needs a White Knight with deep pockets to keep it afloat until the $100 billion in annual revenues you predict happen. An established company that just ran out of capital is a better bet than an R&D - IMHO.

Energy Storage Stocks: Performance, Cost and Bell Shaped Curves

I agree with the bell shaped curve approach and the undue attention paid to the companies at the extremes. I suggest you should have included the various flow batteries in your curve. VRB Power Systems is taking a beating in the stock market today, but the technology is commercial now for large installations, and will be “best available technology” bulk energy storage at windfarms, large industrials for UPS, others. It will be the best affordable for many specific locations, and will become more affordable as costs come down due to manufacturing economies of scale, lower vanadium prices in the future, and the government incentives that follow all of these renewable energy initiatives. Disclosure - I'm a sales affiliate for VRB - not an employee. I wanted a technology I could implement now - VRB is the best for bulk energy.

Grid-based Energy Storage: Birth of a Giant

Contrary to some posters, the Beacon flywheel has not been approved for regulation services in three regional power grids. Those grids have tested the ability of the small prototype flywheels to follow the regulation signal. However, the tariffs require systems to provide much more energy than the flywheel has stored. Beacon is currently trying to change those rules. Beacon has not yet demonstrated its large, grid application, flywheel.

I also encourage a look at the VRB Flow Battery. It is one of the few advanced energy systems that are commercially available. It's as fast or faster than a flywheel, has an indefinite life - it can be refurbished, similar to a diesel engine overhaul - and can provide megawatts of capacity with hours of storage and with unlimited cycling.