PG&E has said the batteries are a cost-effective way to make the grid more efficient, by storing renewable energy, and more reliable, by being available at times when other resources are not.Ī detail shot of stacks of battery modules at the Manatee Energy Storage Center. The project, which operates under a contract with the utility Pacific Gas & Electric, is the largest battery storage facility in the world. Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California went online in December 2020, with 300 megawatts of capacity, and then added 100 megawatts in August of this year, which I’ve written about a few times. Still, in 2021, we can say with certainty that we’ve entered an era of super-size energy storage projects. “That future is starting to come into focus, but it’s really still a murky vision because there’s a lot of experimentation continuing to be done.” “People can see a future where there’s a much bigger-like 10-fold, 20-fold-increase in storage services over a decade,” he said. One of these days, I’ll write about pumped hydro, systems that pump water to a high reservoir at times of low electricity demand and then release it at times of high demand, allowing gravity to push the water through a turbine and produce electricity. For example, pumped hydroelectric storage is an old, and still vital, contributor to the grid. Most of the batteries being used today can run for two to four hours on a charge, but a grid that relies on much more storage is likely to need a mix of short-duration and long-duration batteries.Īnd batteries are not the only energy storage technology.
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He told me that much of the value of energy storage comes from the way it can work alongside wind and solar, at the grid level or in projects where renewable energy sources and battery storage are placed next to one another.īut project developers and grid operators mostly have to guess at how much storage they need to build, or how to determine the right mix of various kinds of storage, he said. “We’re testing a lot of stuff, and the hypothesis that storage adds huge value to the grid is being sustained.” “We’re in an experimental moment,” David Victor, co-director of the Deep Decarbonization Initiative at University of California, San Diego, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. There are still big unknowns about how the market will develop, the extent of government aid and the emergence of new battery technologies, making it challenging for forecasters. The increase means that many of the new battery systems can fill longer gaps when other resources are unavailable. The new storage systems can, on average, run for longer than before, with a duration of 2.26 hours (gigawatt-hours divided by gigawatts) in 2021, up from 2.04 hours in 2020. The new 2021 capacity can discharge 28 gigawatt-hours of electricity before needing to recharge, up from 10 gigawatt-hours for the new capacity in 2020, the report says. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA last week said it planned to eliminate 2,900 jobs following a run of losses.So, we’re looking at a near-tripling of new storage capacity in 2021, and a 14-fold increase from 2020 to 2030. Rivals are also struggling to turn a profit despite growing demand for clean energy. GE has previously said it plans to cut costs and prepare the business for lower wind turbine output than during peaks in 20. Months of uncertainty surrounding a US tax credit designed to spur installations contributed to a slowdown in orders, while inflation and labor shortages added to the onshore wind unit’s struggles this year. Operating losses for the broader unit totaled $853 million in the first six months of the year. GE is racing to resize its onshore wind business - the top revenue source in its renewable energy division - to account for a steep drop in demand. “These are difficult decisions, which do not reflect on our employees’ dedication and hard work but are needed to ensure the business can compete and improve profitability over time.” “We are taking steps to streamline and size our onshore wind business for market realities to position us for future success,” a GE spokesperson said in a statement, without discussing the scope of the cuts.
Cuts are also planned in Europe and Asia, the person said. GE will reduce its US onshore wind workforce by 20%, equating to hundreds of staff, the person said, asking not to be identified because the plans were private.
is slashing jobs at its onshore wind turbine manufacturing business in a restructuring of its key renewable energy unit to counter mounting losses, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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