A new era for energy storage

What is the future of energy storage?

Storage enables electricity systems to remain in balance despite variations in wind and solar availability, allowing for cost-effective deep decarbonization while maintaining reliability. The Future of Energy Storage report is an essential analysis of this key component in decarbonizing our energy infrastructure and combating climate change.

Are energy-storage companies making a sustainable battery alternative?

In addition to lifting weights, energy-storage companies are compressing air or water, or making objects spin, or heating them up. If you use clean energy to do the initial work and find a green way to store and release it, you’ve created an ecologically responsible battery alternative.

Is a new era of electrification on the horizon?

With the shift to renewable energy, a new era of electrification is on the horizon, supported in large part by the breakthrough battery designs that researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) believe are at our fingertips.

Is stationary energy storage the future of EVs?

Although Li-ion continues to be the standard for EVs, the unique priorities of stationary energy storage—where lifespan is typically more important than battery size—are opening new doors in materials research.

Why do we need a co-optimized energy storage system?

The need to co-optimize storage with other elements of the electricity system, coupled with uncertain climate change impacts on demand and supply, necessitate advances in analytical tools to reliably and efficiently plan, operate, and regulate power systems of the future.

Is storage-capacity a new technology?

Many states are now setting storage-capacity targets, and in 2018 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Order 841, which integrates stored energy into the wholesale electricity market. “There’s been a recognition that this is a technology whose time has come,” Jason Burwen, of the American Clean Power Association, told me.