Planck Foundation




GLOBAL RESOURCES ANALYSIS


TECHNOLOGIES | STORAGE TECHNOLOGY


For fixed line connected power use, may be other grid attached storage solutions will be better (as in: cheaper, more efficient and much more simpler in operation) and yes also hydrogen can play a role in this more automatically grid connected storage. Grid connected storage has function to provide commercial online power against higher than regular prices when there is a live energy shortage. As also explained later on: electrical power will have soon a live price, based on grid supply and demand and all companies and households will have energy management units, which manage energy use and energy purchase/supply. Other energy storage technologies that are based on chemical or spinning concepts are may be voluminous and expensive. There are too much energy storage technologies to mention, so let's look at their economic facets: investment, space demand, efficiency, cost of operation and interest costs. It's clear that live energy feeds are simpler, but when they must come at night from the other end of the world and therefore travel al least 20.000 kilometer with an average 3% per 1000 km lost, it's also clear that live feeds in times of gaps between supply and demand (mostly at night, day time energy can be made by CSP in any volume). Energy storage is a complete new world to discover and commercial very attractive because it sales will always be at the top levels of energy prices (when they are needed). Hydrogen has as huge benefit, that it has no joule based limit or better said: storage facilities are relatively cheap and could therefore be made abundant in volume. This limitation in capacity is something almost all other solutions have: A water basis based energy storage system has gone empty after several hours of operation. Huge sea based circle dikes created artificial lakes, or in land reservoirs are also storage options, but have at least just a 50% efficiency (losing 50% of the power in pumping water up). By sea based circle dikes created artificial lakes, this could be less when water pumping upwards is done by high tide and power generation is done by low tide, but this could not match the storage and generation oversupply/overdemand power market situation.


Author: Gijs Graafland


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