1/10/2016

Energystorageforrenewablescanbeagoodinvestmenttoday,studyfinds|MITNews

Reearcherandpractitionerhave
truggledtocomparethecotof
different[energ]toragetechnologie,
ecaueofthemultipledimenionof
cotandthefactthatnotechnolog
dominatealongalldimenion,"a
JeikaTrancik,theAtlanticRichfield
CareerDevelopmentAitantProfeor
ofnergtudieatMIT.

nergtorageforrenewalecaneagood
invetmenttoda,tudfind
temthatankenergcanaddvaluetoolarandwindproject.
DavidL.Chandler|MITNewOffice
June13,2016
Utilitcompanieorotherplanningtointallrenewaleenergtemuchaolarand
windfarmhavetodecidewhethertoincludelarge-caleenergtoragetemthatcan
capturepowerwhenitavailaleandreleaeitondemand.Thideciionmaecriticalto
thefuturegrowthofrenewaleenerg.
Thechoicecanecomplicated:Woulduchatemactuallpaforitelfthrough
increaedrevenue?Ifo,whichkindoftemmakethemotene,andwhichfeatureof
thetemaremotimportant?Ifnot,howmuchcheaperdotoragetechnologieneedto

PRMNTION

UmairIrfanofClimateWirewritethatanew
paperProf.JeikaTrancikfindthat
renewaleenergtoragecaneagood
invetment,andprovideinightonwhich
toragetechnologiearethemoteconomicall
feaile.Oneofthemajortechnolog
challengeofcalinguprenewalei
developingeconomicallfeaileenerg
torage,"aJeikaTrancik.

e?
AnewtudreearcheratMIThowhowtoevaluatethetechnologchoiceavailale,
includingatterie,pumpedhdroelectrictorage,andcompreedairenergtorage,and
demontratethatevenwithtodapricefortheetechnologie,uchtoragetemmake

RLATD

goodeconomiceneinomelocation,utnotetinother.Thetud,JeikaTrancik,
theAtlanticRichfieldCareerDevelopmentAitantProfeorofnergtudieatMIT,and
graduatetudentWilliamraffandJohuaMueller,wajutpulihedinthejournalNature

Paper:"Valueoftoragetechnologieforwind
andolarenerg."

ClimateChange.
Reearcherandpractitionerhavetruggledtocomparethecotofdifferenttorage

JeikaTrancik

technologie,Trancikexplain,ecaueofthemultipledimenionofcotandthefactthat
notechnologdominatealongalldimenion.toragetechnologiecanonlecompared

IntituteforData,temandociet

lookingatthecontextinwhichthearegoingtoeued.utthetudfoundthat
regardleoftheparticularcircumtanceatagivenlocation,certainfeatureofhow

DepartmentofMechanicalngineering

electricitpricefluctuatearecommonacrolocationanddofavoromepecifictpeof
torageolutionoverother.
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Energystorageforrenewablescanbeagoodinvestmenttoday,studyfinds|MITNews

ellingatthepeakprice

choolofngineering

Forexample,theteamfoundthatinTexatoda,pumpedhdrotemcanprovideadded
valuetodaforolarorwindintallation.Intheetem,excepoweriuedtopump
wateruphilltoareervoirfortorage,andthenthewaterireleaedthroughaturineto
generatepowerwhenitineeded.Theincreaedrevenuetheplantcanproduce,waitingto
ellthepowerintothegriduntilpot-priceforelectricitthecontantl-changingmarket
ratethatelectricitditriutorpatoproducerareattheirpeak,wouldexceedthecotof
theaddedtoragetem.
Further,thefoundthatuchpumpedhdrotorageprovidemorevaluethanatorage
temuinglead-acidatterieeventhoughitpowercapacitcomponentwouldcot
everaltimemore.Thiiecaueapumpedhdrotemhalowerenerg-capacitcot

ARCHIV

Hitorinthemaking:
Theoutcomeofthe
Pariclimatechange
negotiation
heddinglightonthe
futureof
photovoltaic

thanlead-acidattertem.(nergcapacitrefertotheoverallamountofenergthatcan
etoredinthetem,andpowercapacitrefertohowmuchenergcanedeliveredata
givenmomentfromthattem).Acompreedairtoragetemcouldaloaddvalue

Howtocount
methaneemiion

comparaletothatofthepumpedhdrotem.However,atterieareattractive,the
reearchernote,ecauethecaneintalledeentiallanwhereanddonotrelon
naturalfeaturethatexitonlinomelocation.
Thereearcherpointoutthatmuchreearchontoragetemforrenewaleenerg
ourcehafocuedonuingthetemtomoothouttheintermittentoutputtoetter
matchfluctuatingdemand.utinpractice,motoftheewindorolarfarmarefeedinginto
thegrid,owhatmattertopotentialinvetorithepricecurveratherthanthedemandcurve.
urpriingl,itturnedoutthatdepitewideregionalvariationintheaveragepriceandthe

tudfindpiece-pieceapproachto
emiionpolicie
caneeffective
Innovationin
renewale-energ
technologiei
ooming

amountofvariailitindemandandpricing,theettoragetechnologinonelocationi
alotheetintheother,Trancika.Thiiecaueoftheimilaritacrolocationin
theditriutionofthedurationofelectricitpricepike.Thipatternlikelemergeecaue
ofcontraintimpoedthedailccle,andimilaritieinwhenpeoplegotoworkandgo
home,andgenerallhowthependtheirtime.
Whetheranenergtoragetemiworththecottodavariewidellocation,ecaue
oflargevariationinthefrequencandmagnitudeofpikeinthepriceandhowtheolarand
windreourcefluctuateovertime,hea.utthecotcharacteriticoftheoptimal
toragetemareimilarinalllocation,thereearcherfound,ecaueofcertain
common,emergentpropertieofelectricitpricefluctuation.
Thimeanthattheereultcaneuedtoinforminvetmentintoragetechnolog
developmenttheprivateectorandgovernment,andcaninformengineeringeffortinthe
la,Trancika.Thereultwouldhaveeenlegeneralandleuefultotechnolog
developmenteffortifwedfoundthatthedirectionofoptimalcotimprovement,tradingoff
energcapacitandpowercapacitcot,wadifferentacrolocation.
Cottillneedtodrop
Atthitime,thetudfound,thecotofuchtemdontetmakethemprofitaleenough
withoutpolicupporttoenalethekindofwidepreadadoptionthatineededtomakea
largedentingloalgreenhouegaemiion.ut,Trancika,thituddoeuggetthat
marketadoptionalreadmakeeneinomelocation,andcouldeootedwithmodet
pulicpolicupport,whichinturnwouldtimulatetechnologicalimprovementintorageto
encouragefurthergrowth.Thetudaloprovideguidanceonhowmuchthecotofagiven
technologneedtoeroughtdowninordertoenaleuchdeploment,andwhichapect
ofthetemneedthegreatetimprovementandthu,wherereearchneedtoe
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focued.Forexampleitprovidecottargetforvariouflowatteriethatarein
development.
Forthitud,theteamexaminedthreetate:Texa,California,andMaachuett.The
foundtoragetemmakeeconomicenetodainTexaandCaliforniautnotetin
Maachuett.Theplantoroadenthetudtomorelocationtoeeiftheiroverall
concluionapplmorewidel.
Inoneomewhatcounterintuitivefinding,theathatathecotofwindandolarpower
temcomedown,thecotoftoragetemwillneedtocomedownawellorthewill
nolongereprofitale.Thatecaueatomepointitwouldemoreprofitaletoimpl
addmoregeneratingcapacitratherthanmoretoragecapacit.Thereearchernotethat
thereiawindowofopportunitnowfortoragetoeadoptedinthemarketplace.utthe
warnthattheincentivewilldiminihovertimeifnoactionitakennow,andifwindandolar
cotfallfurther.
Trancikathireearchfallinanareaherefertoadirectedinnovation,inwhich
deciionaoutwhatareaofreearch,technologdeign,andpoliciearemotneededin
ordertoachievepecificocietalgoalcaneaedonclearlquantifialecriteria.Theidea
itouedataandmodeltoaccelerateenergtechnologdevelopment,hea.
incetorageinvolveothenergandpowercharacteritic,amongother,improvingthee
technologieinvolvetargetingmultiplecriteria.Ifautilit,reearcher,ortechnologinvetor
wereconideringwhichreearchdirectionwouldemotlikeltoincreaethevalueof
torage,thimethodwouldeagreatplacetotart,aGregorNemet,anaociate
profeorofenvironmentaltudieattheUniveritofWiconinatMadionwhowanot
involvedinthiwork.
Atrengthofthetuditheexteniveenitivitanali.Ittakeeveralfactorinto
accountandthenuealternativeaumptionforeachfactortoeeifthatchangethe
reult,Nemetadd.Itithuimpreivethatafterdoingthat,thefindthatexitingtorage
technologie,uchapumpedhdroandcompreedair,canalreadaddvaluetowindand
olar.torageaddvaluetorenewaletoda,eveninverdifferentlocation.
ThiworkwaupportedtheMITPortugalProgram,LockheedMartin,andtheUTD-MIT
InternationalDeignCenter.

Topic:

Reearch

Mechanicalengineering

Alternativeenerg

nerg

ID

utainailit

Renewaleenerg
Wind

olar

conomic

choolofngineering

AoutThiWeite
ThiWeiteimaintainedtheMITNewOffice,partoftheOfficeofCommunication.

MITNewOfficeuilding11-400
MaachuettIntituteofTechnologCamridge,MA02139-4307

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