The energy puzzle is regularly on top of the world’s political, environmental, and economic agenda. Pushed by demographic growth, aspiration for better living conditions, and the development of digital technologies, electricity consumption is set to increase rapidly.
In this context, today’s electrical grid and the power systems are experiencing the rise of some disruptive innovations. Tomorrow’s power grid would see a flow of power from both directions and an island of power systems comprising of Distributed Generation (micro grids, mini-grid), Smart Grids, Renewable Energy, etc. The power output of these sources are not as reliable and as easy to manage the energy demand than the traditional power sources. To overcome this challenge of reliable power delivery, electricity storage systems, and its subsequent use in a controlled manner is a crucial factor. The role of such enabling technologies is becoming more important as India moves towards deeper penetrations of innovative power generating systems.
Often renewable energy integration with grid are not considered dependable due to its inherent fluctuating nature. This integration takes place with the aid of power electronic converters, which if not implemented properly, high-frequency switching of inverters can inject additional harmonics to the power systems creating major PQ issues. Hence, PQ analysis will be rewarding for electric utilities since it enables continuous monitoring, early excursion detection, root cause analysis, and timely corrective actions improving overall grid reliability. This blog highlights the impact of poor power quality on utility’s network & power systems by use of energy storage systems and its potential mitigation techniques/solutions.
GRID CONNECTED ELECTRICITY STORAGE SYSTEM MARKET GROWTH
Electricity storage is one of the most effective solutions for addressing high intermittency and can act as reserve and ready for use capacity in the entire energy value chain of generation, transmission, and distribution. Storing electricity on a large scale has been pursued for years by electric utilities in hopes of using the power during peak demand. The ability to store large amounts of power will lend a helping hand to power producers fill the production gaps created by growing amount of intermittent generation from renewable sources such as the wind and solar. After years of limited progress, several capable technologies for storing large amounts of power have emerged for energy storage capacity, while some others are promising.
(Please refer APQI’s recent blog on “Energy Storage Technology for performance enhancement of power systems” that covers these technologies in detail and their qualitative comparison across key parameters, its application, market segments and key drivers. A case study has also been included to understand energy storage solution by one of the utilities for meeting peak load)
The overall grid-connected electricity storage market is set to explode, reaching a total of over 40GW of installations by 2022, ‘’as per market research firm IHS. The United States will be the largest country for installations, accounting more than 1/3rd contribution during that period, followed by Germany and Japan. In India, total grid connected storage in India is expected to be 5GW by 2022 growing to 8GW by 2032 and 10GW by 2042 and 15GW by 2047.
KEY PQ ISSUE DUE TO GRID CONNECTED ELECTRICITY STORAGE SYSTEM
Managing power systems inclusive of storage system requires familiarity with the importance of power quality. While electricity storage deployment throughout electricity systems provides various benefits in terms of improved grid reliability, network loading & shifting, voltage regulation, etc. however, if not properly designed and implemented, then its integration will not be effective with large sized renewables, thereby affecting end user energy management. Some of the key PQ issues that may arise due to improper storage systems are:
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