What does the future hold for energy storage and decentralised networks ?

Ener­gy sto­rage plays a pivo­tal role in streng­the­ning grid resi­lience and enabling the shift to rene­wable ener­gy sources. From esta­bli­shed tech­no­lo­gies like lithium-ion and sodium-sul­fur bat­te­ries to cut­ting-edge solu­tions such as vana­dium redox flow bat­te­ries (VRFBs), these sys­tems are indis­pen­sable for sta­bi­li­sing power grids, cap­tu­ring excess ener­gy, and miti­ga­ting the inter­mit­ten­cy inherent in rene­wable generation.

At COP29, glo­bal lea­ders unders­co­red the urgen­cy of expan­ding ener­gy sto­rage capa­ci­ty and moder­ni­sing grid infra­struc­ture to create a robust, cli­mate-resi­lient ener­gy sys­tem. Ini­tia­tives pro­mo­ting decen­tra­li­sed grids, the adop­tion of flow bat­te­ries, and the inte­gra­tion of hybrid sto­rage sys­tems fur­ther high­light the trans­for­ma­tive poten­tial of ener­gy sto­rage tech­no­lo­gies in sha­ping a sus­tai­nable ener­gy future.

Ener­gy sto­rage spans diverse tech­no­lo­gies desi­gned to cap­ture, retain, and release ener­gy as nee­ded, enabling grea­ter flexi­bi­li­ty and depen­da­bi­li­ty in power flow mana­ge­ment¹. The elec­tri­cal grid, defi­ned as a com­pre­hen­sive net­work of gene­ra­tion, trans­mis­sion, and dis­tri­bu­tion sys­tems, relies on these sto­rage solu­tions to main­tain sta­bi­li­ty and syn­chro­nise sup­ply with real-time demand.

The chart illus­trates the glo­bal cumu­la­tive ener­gy sto­rage ins­tal­la­tions from 2015 to 2030, sho­wing a signi­fi­cant upward trend, which is dri­ven by strong poli­cy sup­port and tech­no­lo­gi­cal advan­ce­ments, par­ti­cu­lar­ly in regions like the US, Chi­na, and Europe. Howe­ver, it’s impor­tant to note that the data is based on fore­casts as of 2021, and might not ful­ly cap­ture recent mar­ket deve­lop­ments or changes.

Ener­gy sto­rage methods include elec­tro­che­mi­cal sys­tems such as lithium-ion and sodium-sul­phur bat­te­ries, mecha­ni­cal sys­tems such as pum­ped hydro and com­pres­sed air sto­rage, elec­tro­ma­gne­tic sto­rage such as super­con­duc­ting magne­tic ener­gy sto­rage and super­ca­pa­ci­tors, ther­mal sto­rage such as mol­ten salt and phase-change mate­rials, and hydro­gen sto­rage². Each approach plays a dis­tinct role in enhan­cing the grid’s effi­cien­cy and resilience.

Eddie Rich, CEO of the Inter­na­tio­nal Hydro­po­wer Asso­cia­tion says, “a lack of long-dura­tion ener­gy sto­rage has, until now, been the igno­red cri­sis within the cur­rent ener­gy cri­sis. This is the first time world lea­ders have reco­gni­zed the need for a mix of rene­wables, rather than just volume³.” COP29, held in Baku, Azer­bai­jan, from Novem­ber 11^th to 22^nd 2024, places a strong empha­sis on advan­cing grid infra­struc­ture and ener­gy sto­rage as pivo­tal com­po­nents of the tran­si­tion to low-car­bon ener­gy. During COP29, the Glo­bal Ener­gy Sto­rage and Grids Pledge has­set an ambi­tious goal of achie­ving 1,500 GW by 2030, six times above 2022 levels, and to deve­lop or moder­nise over 80 mil­lion kilo­metres of elec­tri­ci­ty grids by 2040⁴.

Achie­ving glo­bal net-zero emis­sions hinges on the rapid expan­sion of ener­gy sto­rage, a prio­ri­ty high­ligh­ted by COP29 lea­ders who reco­gni­zed its cri­ti­cal role in advan­cing a clean ener­gy future. Many nations and cor­po­ra­tions have pled­ged to deploy cut­ting-edge ener­gy sto­rage solu­tions. Nota­bly, the Glo­bal Rene­wables Alliance has set an ambi­tious tar­get of 8,000 GW of long-dura­tion sto­rage by 2040, advo­ca­ting for invest­ments in tech­no­lo­gies like flow bat­te­ries to enhance grid sta­bi­li­ty and sup­port rene­wable ener­gy inte­gra­tion⁵.

Decen­tra­li­sed grids use Dis­tri­bu­ted Ener­gy Resources (DERs) like solar panels and wind tur­bines, which can ope­rate inde­pen­dent­ly and link to the main grid. This flexi­bi­li­ty boosts ener­gy resi­lience, sup­por­ting local power gene­ra­tion and redu­cing depen­den­cy on cen­tral infra­struc­ture⁶.

Ener­gy sto­rage is fun­da­men­tal to mana­ging the varia­bi­li­ty of rene­wable sources such as solar and wind, as well as advan­cing grid decen­tra­li­sa­tion, sto­ring excess ener­gy during peak pro­duc­tion, and ensu­ring a consistent sup­ply during per­iods of redu­ced out­put. By per­for­ming these func­tions, it sta­bi­lises power grids and faci­li­tates seam­less rene­wable ener­gy inte­gra­tion the­re­by sca­ling up rene­wable ener­gy adop­tion⁷.

At COP29, the Glo­bal Ener­gy Sto­rage and Grids Pledge set a goal to achieve 1,500 GW of glo­bal sto­rage capa­ci­ty by 2030—including 1,200 GW in bat­te­ry storage—to sup­port decen­tra­li­sed ener­gy sys­tems⁸. Com­ple­men­ting this effort, the Green Ener­gy Zones and Cor­ri­dors Pledge aims to deve­lop rene­wable ener­gy zones equip­ped with inte­gra­ted sto­rage solu­tions, fur­ther acce­le­ra­ting the tran­si­tion to sus­tai­nable energy.

Recent break­throughs in ener­gy sto­rage have demons­tra­ted their signi­fi­cant role in streng­the­ning ener­gy resi­lience. COP29 has men­tio­ned many inno­va­tions in ener­gy sto­rage solu­tions, each with unique approaches to sup­por­ting rene­wable ener­gy integration.

#1 Gra­vi­ty Ener­gy Sto­rage Solu­tions (GESS): Deve­lo­ped by Ener­gy Vault, GESS uses sur­plus rene­wable ener­gy to lift hea­vy blocks, which are lowe­red to gene­rate elec­tri­ci­ty during high demand. Ope­ra­tio­nal in Chi­na since May 2024, GESS is sca­lable, adap­table, and can inte­grate into tall buil­dings, poten­tial­ly redu­cing urban car­bon foot­prints⁹.

#2 Geo­pres­su­red Geo­ther­mal Sto­rage : Dub­bed an “ear­then bat­te­ry” by Sage Geo­sys­tems, this tech­no­lo­gy stores water under­ground, using pres­sure to drive tur­bines for elec­tri­ci­ty gene­ra­tion. Sus­tai­nable and effi­cient, it is set to connect to the grid by year-end¹⁰.

#3 Com­pres­sed CO₂ Sto­rage : Ener­gy Dome’s method com­presses CO₂ into liquid for high-ener­gy-den­si­ty sto­rage, later expan­ded to drive tur­bines. With a pilot plant in Sar­di­nia and lar­ger-scale deploy­ments plan­ned, this approach mini­mises envi­ron­men­tal impact¹¹.

#4 Flow Bat­te­ries : Sca­lable and prac­ti­cal, flow bat­te­ries like vana­dium redox flow bat­te­ries (VRFB) store ener­gy in liquid elec­tro­lytes within exter­nal tanks, enabling inde­pendent sca­ling of power and ener­gy capa­ci­ties. Durable, low-main­te­nance, and safe, they ali­gn with COP29’s ener­gy sto­rage goals.

#5 Redox Reac­tions : VRFBs store ener­gy through vana­dium ions shif­ting oxi­da­tion states in liquid elec­tro­lytes. During char­ging, V³⁺ oxi­dizes to V⁴⁺ on the ano­lyte side, and V⁵⁺ reduces to V²⁺ on the catho­lyte side, rever­sing during discharge to release ener­gy¹².

#6 Mar­ket Over­view : The VRFB mar­ket, valued at $394.7 mil­lion in 2023, is pro­jec­ted to grow at a 19.7% CAGR from 2024 to 2030, dri­ven by rene­wable ener­gy expan­sion in North Ame­ri­ca, Europe, and Asia-Paci­fic¹³.

Andreas Schie­ren­beck, CEO of Hita­chi Ener­gy says, “the expan­sion and moder­ni­sa­tion of power grids and deploy­ment of ener­gy sto­rage, along­side other key tech­no­lo­gies, are now cri­ti­cal for the glo­bal ener­gy sys­tem¹⁴.” Smart grids represent advan­ced ener­gy sys­tems desi­gned to opti­mise power dis­tri­bu­tion and enhance grid relia­bi­li­ty¹⁵. Ener­gy sto­rage is a cor­ners­tone of these sys­tems, enabling the cap­ture and reten­tion of sur­plus ener­gy from variable rene­wable sources such as wind and solar. This inte­gra­tion enhances grid sta­bi­li­ty, pro­motes effi­cient ener­gy use, and balances sup­ply and demand¹⁶.

By miti­ga­ting fluc­tua­tions in rene­wable ener­gy pro­duc­tion and ensu­ring a stea­dy power sup­ply during per­iods of high demand, ener­gy sto­rage signi­fi­cant­ly improves grid resi­lience. Addi­tio­nal­ly, it reduces reliance on long-dis­tance elec­tri­ci­ty trans­mis­sion, the­re­by mini­mi­sing ener­gy losses.

At COP29, the vital role of ener­gy sto­rage in acce­le­ra­ting rene­wable ener­gy inte­gra­tion was pro­mi­nent­ly empha­si­zed. The Euro­pean Com­mis­sion, as part of its Inno­va­tion Fund, awar­ded €4.8 bil­lion in grants to 85 pio­nee­ring net-zero pro­jects¹⁷. Among these is a hybrid ener­gy sto­rage sys­tem in France that com­bines lithium-ion and vana­dium redox flow bat­te­ries (VRFB), inte­gra­ted with a large-scale solar PV farm. This ini­tia­tive aims to streng­then grid sta­bi­li­ty and advance the EU’s decar­bo­ni­sa­tion objectives.

Ener­gy sto­rage is pivo­tal in ensu­ring a resi­lient power sup­ply, par­ti­cu­lar­ly during extreme wea­ther events or unex­pec­ted dis­rup­tions. By addres­sing the inherent varia­bi­li­ty of rene­wable ener­gy sources, these sys­tems sta­bi­lise the grid, advance low-car­bon objec­tives, and pro­vide cri­ti­cal backup to prevent pro­lon­ged bla­ckouts during crises.

Rene­wable sources like solar and wind, while abun­dant, pose chal­lenges to grid sta­bi­li­ty. Ener­gy sto­rage miti­gates these issues by cap­tu­ring sur­plus ener­gy gene­ra­ted during sun­ny or win­dy days and relea­sing it during per­iods of low pro­duc­tion, such as over­cast or wind­less condi­tions. This ensures a stea­dy, reliable power sup­ply without com­pro­mi­sing sys­tem dependability.

Moreo­ver, ener­gy sto­rage serves as a dual solu­tion to cli­mate chal­lenges : it sup­ports cli­mate miti­ga­tion by faci­li­ta­ting rene­wable ener­gy adop­tion and adap­ta­tion by streng­the­ning grid resi­lience against cli­mate-indu­ced dis­rup­tions. Encou­ra­ging COP29 par­ti­ci­pants to prio­ri­tize invest­ments in ener­gy sto­rage could fos­ter glo­bal awa­re­ness, sti­mu­late mea­ning­ful dis­cus­sions, and esta­blish a trans­for­ma­tive pre­cedent for future ener­gy policies.

Since COP28, signi­fi­cant strides have been made in ener­gy sto­rage, unders­co­ring its cri­ti­cal role in the glo­bal tran­si­tion to rene­wable ener­gy and cli­mate resi­lience. Break­throughs in tech­no­lo­gies such as China’s GESS and vana­dium redox flow bat­te­ries (VRFB) have soli­di­fied ener­gy sto­rage as a cor­ners­tone of future ener­gy solu­tions. Buil­ding on ear­lier com­mit­ments, new ini­tia­tives are set­ting ambi­tious goals to fur­ther advance sto­rage tech­no­lo­gies, inte­grate them into rene­wable ener­gy zones, and pro­mote decen­tra­li­sed grids along­side next-gene­ra­tion bat­te­ry systems.

Equal­ly trans­for­ma­tive are the poli­cy shifts obser­ved bet­ween COP28 and COP29. The ambi­tious tar­get of achie­ving 1,500 GW of glo­bal ener­gy sto­rage capa­ci­ty by 2030, cou­pled with plans to upgrade 80 mil­lion kilo­metres of elec­tri­ci­ty grids by 2040, reflects a gro­wing confi­dence and col­lec­tive resolve to rea­lize a clea­ner, more sus­tai­nable future.

Loo­king ahead, the conti­nued inte­gra­tion of ener­gy sto­rage into rene­wable ener­gy sys­tems will be para­mount for achie­ving sus­tai­nable deve­lop­ment and addres­sing the glo­bal cli­mate cri­sis. Suc­cess demands more than rhe­to­ric — it requires deci­sive and col­lec­tive action. A clean and resi­lient future will not come to us ; it is some­thing we must acti­ve­ly build together.