When the wind doesn’t blow: The limits of intermittent resources and battery storage in the decarbonization of New England’s power system under increased electrification

Cavicchi, Alessio; Ross, Phillip H.

doi:10.1016/j.tej.2020.106867

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…It is important to note that due to the proportion of current overgeneration by renewable sources and limited currently installed energy storage, we have assumed that the total capacity of a VRFB is utilized according to its user profile (i.e., best-case-scenario). Moreover, the details of reduction in emissions enabled by storage depend on multiple factors such as the extent to which the availability of storage increases investments in renewable technologies, regional caps on emissions, subsidies for renewable energy technologies, alternative options for dispatchable sources, and matching of storage to local climate and renewable energy infrastructure ( Bistline and Young, 2020 ; Cavicchi and Ross, 2020 ). Nevertheless, the potential for renewable energy storage technologies to reduce CO 2 emissions and renewable curtailment in applications where no grid-energy storage solutions are in place has been demonstrated ( Arbabzadeh et al., 2019 ; Denholm, 2012 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the role of vanadium technologies in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and enabling the energy transition

et al. 2021

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Summary The decarbonization of heavy industry and the emergence of renewable energy technologies are inextricably linked to access to mineral resources. As such, there is an urgent need to develop benchmarked assessments of the role of critical elements in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we explore the role of vanadium in decarbonizing construction by serving as a microalloying element and enabling the energy transition as the primary component of flow batteries used for grid-level storage. We estimate that vanadium has enabled an avoided environmental burden totaling 185 million metric tons of CO 2 on an annual basis. A granular analysis estimates savings for China and the European Union at 1.15% and 0.18% of their respective emissions, respectively. Our results highlight the role of critical metals in developing low-carbon infrastructure while underscoring the need for holistic assessments to inform policy interventions that mitigate supply chain risks.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the role of vanadium technologies in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and enabling the energy transition

et al. 2021

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“…The selected studies mostly feature an hourly resolution and a single operation year. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Table 1 summarizes the properties of these studies. The investigated studies all present increased variable renewable energy (VRE) of varying degrees.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…14 However, battery resources were also deemed to be insufficient when intermittent resources were at seasonal lows, and dispatchable technologies were found to be needed in the absence of technological breakthroughs. 19 The results vary depending on how the studies were modeled. Studies of multiple interconnected regions were less susceptible to renewable variations and, therefore, required less storage.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Storages were found to offer diminishing marginal returns 20 and to be susceptible to variations in renewable energy generation. 19,20 Various generation technologies were reported to work well with different storage technologies. For instance, PV generation was found to correlate with increased Li-ion battery charging, while onshore and offshore wind correlated with hydrogen storages.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Reference 16, gas turbines are also included in addition to renewable sources. References 17 and 19‐22 are capacity expansion studies, where some fossil technologies are also allowed. Reference 24 features a low‐carbon power system, and it includes some gas, biomass, and nuclear capacities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contributing factors for electricity storage in a carbon‐free power system

Koivunen

Syri

Veijalainen

2021

Intl J of Energy Research

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The Government of Finland is targeting carbon neutrality by 2035. Increasing electrification emphasizes the need for significant emission reductions in power generation. As reduction in power generation emissions is partly realized by increase in intermittent energy sources, electricity storage may become an important part of a carbon neutral power system. This study investigates the behavior of electrical storages as a part of a large-scale national carbon-free power system model. As a case study, a three-year model of a carbon-free Finnish power system set in 2050 with the aim to identify various factors affecting electricity storage, and the results are compared with literature. The proposed case study features various scenarios with a national power system with very high amounts of renewables and a significant hydro capacity, while amount of combustion-based energy production is minimal. In addition, hydrological stress scenarios representing historically severe drought years were introduced.The amount of electricity storage needed was found to be most affected by nuclear and electricity trading capacities, which is consistent with literature findings. The data period used as basis for modeling also affected the need for electricity storage, as interannual variations in renewable production were found to have a large effect on modeled results. The needed electricity storage capacities increased significantly in the stress scenarios. The electricity storage need was found to be seasonal in nature, but this may be partly due to missing demand flexibility within the modeled power system, which caused very large individual storage discharge peaks. The results emphasize the need to take several years of historical data into account to ensure system availability in different conditions. Highlights• Nuclear energy was found to decrease system costs in a 100% carbon-free power system.

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Market-based solution in China to finance the clean from the dirty

Qian

2024

Fundamental Research

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When the wind doesn’t blow: The limits of intermittent resources and battery storage in the decarbonization of New England’s power system under increased electrification

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Assessing the role of vanadium technologies in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and enabling the energy transition

Assessing the role of vanadium technologies in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and enabling the energy transition

Contributing factors for electricity storage in a carbon‐free power system

Market-based solution in China to finance the clean from the dirty

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