Nevada-based NV Energy is deploying solar-plus-storage to generate half its electricity with renewables by 2030 and all of it by 2050. It will buy the output from three projects, generating 1,200 megawatts of solar energy and using 590 MW in energy storage to get there. The utility will store excess solar power during the day and deliver that electricity to customers at night.
That strategy is trending—expected to get even more traction now that global climate leaders aim to triple the use of renewables by 2030. Indeed, clean power is essential to decarbonize the grid and provide universal electrification. However, it is a spotty resource that requires either a backup energy source such as natural gas or a storage device that can release electrons for long durations, which remains costly.
“As we increase renewable energy integration, we will need more than four hours of storage capacity,” says Julia Souder, chief executive of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council, in an interview. “We need at least eight hours”—even weeks at a time if natural disasters hit, adding that long-duration storage provides a return on investment.
Tripling the renewable energy capacity worldwide means installing more than 1 million MW annually by 2030—double the record set in 2023. That will require $1.5 trillion yearly, almost three times more than we spent in 2023.
That’s a formidable objective. But nearly every country globally has vowed to ratchet up its renewable energy generation, including India and China. Storage developers want to position themselves to win market share. As such, they added 6,800 MW of short-term battery storage last year, up 59% from 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. And 2024 promises to exceed those numbers, with 34,000 MW to come online.
In this country, California and Texas have the most utility-scale storage, followed by Nevada, Arizona, and New York. Terra-Gen built the largest venture in Kern County, Calif., with 864 MW of solar and 3,287 MW-hours of energy storage consisting of lithium-ion batteries, considered shorter-term.
However, “Our data confirm that progress continues to fall short, and the energy transition remains off track,” says Francesco La Camera, director-general of IRENA. “We urgently need a systemic shift away from fossil fuels” to triple renewable capacity and hit net-zero targets.
The Benefits Will Exceed The Costs
Renewable energy and storage investments will pay for themselves by avoiding fuel costs, increasing resilience, and lessening pollution and health-related expenses. The Long Duration Energy Storage Council estimates that they would reduce global industrial greenhouse gas emissions by 65% and potentially save $540 billion yearly.
We must achieve scale. Tata Steel, ArcelorMittal, BHP, Rio Tinto, Yara, Avery Dennison, Eni, and MicrosoftMSFT 0.0% are among the industrials investing in long-duration storage to decarbonize their operations.
Storage devices come in many forms. The prevailing ones today are batteries that link to the transmission grid, where they siphon off power at night and store it. When prices rise, system operators dispatch it during the day. There are also fast-response flywheels that are useful for short-term needs.
Lithium-ion batteries can keep the electrons flowing for four hours. However, “flow batteries” can release energy for 15 hours. If a catastrophic event such as a wildfire occurs, operators use diesel generators for long-term relief—but the amount of available fuel limits them.
There’s thermal energy, too, which captures heat and cold to create energy on demand or to offset energy needs. And there’s mechanical storage, which harnesses kinetic energy. The faster an object moves, the greater its kinetic or gravitational energy. Think river flows and the generation of hydropower.
Meanwhile, there’s hydrogen. Solar panels may create excess power—energy stored in a battery and used in an electrolyzer to make pure hydrogen and produce electricity. It is a form of long-term energy storage.
The U.S. Department of Energy is committed to long-duration energy storage technologies and funding projects. The goal is to drive down costs by 90% by 2030. Energy Dome, Invinity, Form Energy, and Redflow are recipients.
“There is a lot of politics at play here” from national governments, says Souder, with the battery council. “But long-duration storage is an essential tool and important to this transition. The number and severity of climate crises are pushing national policies.”
Industrials And Island Nations Will Drive Growth
She adds that climate change impacts small island developing nations the most, prompting them to innovate and lead. For example, community hospitals must have refrigeration to cool their medicines. Long-duration energy storage gives them greater assurance.
Take the Maldives, which consists of nearly 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. Fossil fuels have powered the islands. However, the World Bank provides money for renewables—specifically, 53.5 MW of solar capacity and 50 MWh of battery storage.
Over the past three years, the World Bank provided $850 million in climate financing for battery storage projects globally. It says this includes 5,500 MWh of storage capacity already operational and 3,700 MWh more in the pipeline across the developing world.
“Communities are demanding this change, and fossil fuel companies are investing in it,” says Souder. “This transition is necessary for our livelihoods, and we must decrease emissions as fast as possible. To be more accountable, combine small solutions and make something better. We can’t deny reality any longer. Long-duration battery storage promotes every single economic sector.”
Renewable energy is core to the decarbonization movement. However, its success is contingent on short- and long-duration energy storage growth. Cost is challenging, but the technology is making headway—encouraged by national policies and investment incentives.
Long-Duration Energy Storage Is Core To Tripling Renewables By 2030 (forbes.com)