DNV GL theorizes possibilities of making seasonal electricity storage technology year-round
By basing seasonal electricity storage on compressed hydrogen, and coupling it with the rise of synthetic fuels, the possibility for those storage elements to be cost-competitive parts of long-term storage is very real, DNV GL found in a research paper released this week.
DNV GL, the world’s largest classification society and a global quality assurance company, took on the topic in The promise of seasonal storage, understanding the potential to balance yearly cycles of electricity demand and renewable energy generation with long-term storage technology. Seasonal storage is a form of technology that tends to charge from the overproduction of renewable energy sources during the summer, then discharge the buildup throughout winter.
“As renewables take a larger share of the energy mix, new issues need to be addressed, such as meeting the increasing demand for electricity even when there is no wind or sun. Our research shows that seasonal storage provides a possible solution to address the problem of long periods without renewable generation, for example, in the Northern European winter,” Lucy Craig, director of Technology and Innovation at DNV GL Energy, said. “While the business case for seasonal storage is challenged by the rapid growth of grid-connected battery storage, our research shows that there is an opportunity for new technologies such as green hydrogen and synthetic fuels.”
Furthering the potential for short term systems is the fact that the need for additional storage solutions is lower than expected, despite an increasingly electrified energy demand, according to a case study modeling electricity generation and demand across 58 different climate years. Variable renewables have largely been used to fill that demand. There is, therefore, a gap that short term storage technologies — like battery storage systems — can fill. More balance could be provided for by the growing number of electric vehicles, which would steady the renewable energy being added to the grid.
Synthetic fuels, DNV GL believes, could work as a stepping-stone for these seasonal applications. Those fuels allow CO₂ heavy sectors to be decarbonized through a process wherein hydrogen is created from renewable-generated electricity and promptly converted into e-fuels. If based on compressed hydrogen, the price of seasonal storage could then become cost-competitive with other forms of long-term storage due to the growing incentivization for low-carbon technology. Carbon prices are expected to more than double per ton by 2050, at least in Europe, where DNV GL is based.
