New Energy’s New Storage Options

Here’s how to solve the UK energy crisis for the long term – store more power; Four storage solutions to help Britain keep the lights on deep into the future

Jillian Ambrose, 10 January 2022 (UK Guardian)

“…A storage boom has been forecast over the coming decade as governments race to meet their climate targets…Within the next five years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global energy storage capacity to expand by 56% to reach more than 270 GW by 2026, driven by a growing need to create flexible electricity systems…Well-established lithium-ion batteries are expected to dominate… [Hydropower can be a form of energy storage if] electricity is used to pump water upwards into a reservoir when the market has ample power available. When electricity supplies become tight the water can be released at short notice to flow over a generating turbine to create electricity for the grid to use…

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…[A new breed of pumped storage uses] a mineral-rich fluid, which has more than two-and-a-half times the density of water, projects could generate the same amount of electricity from slopes which are less than half as high…[Another option is] harnessing “gravity energy” to create electricity by using electric winches to hoist 12,000-tonne weights to the top of a disused mine shaft when there is plenty of renewable energy available, then dropping the weights hundreds of metres down vertical shafts to generate electricity when needed…

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…[Concentrated solar power can be stored as heat in molten salt and] the heat is used to run a conventional steam turbine…Demand for hydrogen made from water and renewable energy is expected to boom in the decades ahead as governments plan to replace the fossil fuels used in power plants, factories and heavy transport with the clean-burning, green alternative. But green hydrogen can also be used as a form of energy storage…[‘Cryogenic’ batteries] could help store renewable energy for weeks rather than hours…[It uses renewable electricity to chill air to -196C, transforming it into a liquid that could be stored in large metal tanks for weeks. When needed, the liquid can be turned back into gas, and used to turn a turbine…” click here for more

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