Dive Brief:
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Increasing the amount of storage available on the electric grid could create a more flexible, efficient and reliable grid while saving the global electric industry hundreds of billions of dollar annually, according to a new paper by IHS Markit.
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The paper compares five networks, and found that data networks are the most robust and advanced and provide the most insight for the electric grid.
- Using New York as a test case, the authors of the paper found that idle capacity costs customers in the state about $2 billion a year.
Dive Insight:
The electric power grid is unique among networks in that it has very little storage. Most networks – data, transportation, communications – have storage amounting to about four days of demand, but the electric grid has storage equal to about 20 minutes of demand, according the IHS Markit’s analysis.
The declining cost of lithium-ion battery technology will enable the electricity network to incorporate multiple hours of storage, says IHS. The author envision the electric market evolving in a similar way to data networks. As with data, declining costs will allow for wider deployment of storage at points throughout the network, both in centralized centers and far from end users. “We expect the electric grid to adopt in similar fashion,” the authors say.
IHS Markit produced the paper in partnership with AES Energy Storage.