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.