Course: Global Energy Transitions and Climate Policy

lecture 4. Systems Integration of

Renewable Energy Sources

Dr. Behnam Zakeri

Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IIASA, Austria

The Agenda Today

Part 1: Renewable Energy Systems

- Energy and climate change (continue)
- Global trends in penetration of renewable energy
- Potentials and challenges

Part 2: Energy storage systems

Image: https://esa-africa.com
2
Terminology (reminder)
Energy system

Primary energy: raw, unprocessed Final energy: ready to be used

3
Lecture 3.1.

Renewable energy systems

4
Energy Consumption History (recap)

• World primary energy

use in 2015
• Huge dependence on
fossil fuels

Image: http://ourrenewablefuture.org/

5
 Greenhouse Effect

Image: http://pinterest.com/charleswelsh Image: http://steemit.com/

Greenhouse gases: CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, CFC, H2O vapor

6
 Global Carbon Cycle
• Carbon pools: oceans, soils, plants,
earth’s crust

• Human induced GHGs the biggest

imbalance in the cycle

Human induced GHGs = 7.7 Pg or Gt (billion tonnes)

Image: http://pinterest.com/charleswelsh
Image: http://puassignmentmtng.rkorakot.me

7
Temperature Rise
• The target: try to keep the
temperature rise well below 2°C
by the year 2100

Image: http://newscientist.com Image: http://vox.com

8
 Climate Change Effects
Question:
discuss the main climate change effects in
Impacts and consequences
in your group

Image: http://vox.com
9
 Climate Change Effects (cont.)
• Direct effects: • Indirect effects:
• Higher temperatures • Mass migration
• Agriculture failure • Economic disruption
• Altered weather patterns • Malnutrition
• Homelessness • Social unrest
• Ocean acidification • Displacement
• Marine ecosystem shift • Infectious disease spread Image: http://ecological.blog.com

• Sea level rise

10
 GHGs may generate a Hothouse
• Hothouse state:
Human is not able to stop the
process ➔ Domino Effect

11
What is the solution?

"If there are to be problems, may they come during

my life-time so that I can resolve them and give my
children the chance of a good life."
Kenyan proverb

https://www.weforum.org/
12
Measures for reducing carbon footprint

https://greenrestoration.ie/principles-of-carbon-footprint-reduction/carbon-footprint-breakdown/
13
 Renewable Energy in the Energy Mix
• Available and replaceable in a sustainable way
Types of renewable energy:
• Solar
• Wind
• Biomass
• Hydro
• Geo-thermal
• Ocean/wave/tidal
• …
Share from Global Final energy, Image: http://reneweconomy.com

14
 Renewable Energy Potential
• World annual energy needs:
16 TW-yr
• Solar and wind two biggest
renewable energy resources

Image: http://waitbutwhy.com
15
 Solar PV
• Small-scale: household
• Large scale: solar PV farms
• Modular, quick, no water needs, maintenance-free
• Distributed and off-grid generation
• Often peak-demand following
• Economically competitive:
In many places in the world, the
cheapest option for new capacity
Globally 627 GW installed by 2019

Images: http://dosolar.com.au above and https://ren21.net

16
 Solar PV Capacity Additions
• 40% growth in 2019 compared to 2018
• As cheap as 0.014 $/kWh: a choice also for developing countries

https://ren21.net

17
 Wind Power
• Modular and distributed
• Onshore and offshore
• Large scale production (wind farms)
• Economically competitive
• Technology improvements
(higher capacity factor, bigger turbines)
• 651 GW global capacity by 2019
• China the leading country

• India, the third country in capacity additions in 2019 https://ren21.net

18
Investments in New Power Capacity

Image: http://ren21.net
19
Share of Wind and Solar in Electricity

• RE more in the electricity sector

• 60% of electricity in Denmark from mainly wind and solar

Image: http://ren21.net 20
Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)
• Indicator for the cost of one unit of electricity generated by a power plant
• Net present value (NPV) of the costs over lifetime divided by total electricity generated

I: investment costs
M: maintenance costs (disposal, etc.)
F: fuel costs
E: total electricity generated

21
LCOE of Renewables vs. Conventional

• Indicator for the cost of one unit of electricity generated by a power plant

Image: Lazard Consultancy 22

Challenges in Integration of Renewables

• Question:
what are the main challenges in increasing the
share of renewables in our final energy use?

23
Some Intermittency Challenges

• Variable renewable energy (solar and wind)

• Temporal and locational variability
• Need for huge backup capacity in high shares of VRE
• Grid connection (windy areas far from the grid)
• Reliability, firm capacity (e.g., peak time): backup capacity
• Capacity credit (capacity value): capacity available at peak time (wind and
solar = 10-15%)
• Ramp-up and ramp-down of thermal plants = additional cost for them

24
What’s the challenge?
• Challenge in large scale integration of variable renewable energy (wind, PV)

Mothersagainstwindturbine.com https://uncomfortableknowledge.com/decarbonization-of-electricity-production/

25
Lecture 3.2.

Energy storage systems

“I can't change the direction of the wind,

but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

Attributed to Jimmy Dean

26
Solutions for Intermittency Challenge
- Grid interconnectivity: connecting homes/communities/cities/ countries together to
balance variability
- Electricity storage: storing excess electricity to be used later
- Demand response: changing electricity demand to respond to variability
- Power-to-heat: converting electricity to heat
- Power-to-fuel: converting electricity to fuels (like hydrogen, methane, etc.)
- …

27
What is electricity storage?
Storing electricity to be used later (in the same form) at a reasonable response time

• Electricity storage = electrical energy storage (EES)

Electricity storage in this study:

Stationary, grid-connected, Utility scale (medium to large scale), rechargeable

Not including:

Electric vehicles (dump charge), energy management, fuel storage, residential scale
end-user, etc.

28
 Functionality of EES (in general)
1.Charge: receiving power, converting it to a type of storable energy

2.Storage unit: storing energy and preventing from losing its value over time

3.Discharge: converting energy back into power, when required

(2)

(1)

(3)

29
Motivation for further research on EES

• Variable renewables and need for integrating them

• Deregulated markets and high capital cost for peak demands

• High investment costs of grid infrastructure for reliability improvement

• Price improvement of EES technologies (e.g., batteries)

• Smart energy systems and the need for smart use of energy …

30
 Electricity storage technologies
• Mechanical:
Pumped hydro-electricity storage (PHS)
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
Flywheel

• Electrochemical:
Batteries (lead-acid, NaS,
Li-ion, etc.)
Flow batteries (e.g. VRFB)

• Other (chemical, electromagnetic, …)

Hydrogen storage, SMES Source: SBC ENERGY Institute

ultracapacitors, etc.
31
 Pumped hydropower storage (PHS)
• The most common EES
• The largest PHS is 3000 MW
(Bath County PHS, USA)

+ High efficiency (75-85%)

+ No fuel and emissions
+ Long discharge time (8-24 hr)
+ Low O&M requirements
+ Low generating costs
+ Long lifetime

- Large and long projects

- Site-specific
- Environmental permitting
- Capital intensive 32
EES technologies: Prospects for PHS
• Underground PHS, sea water reservoir, multi-purpose reservoir, pressurized water (Link to a
PHS project, Link to the video of a pressurized PHS)
Sea water PHS
Discharge Pressurized PHS Charge

Yanbaru Okinawa PHS, Agency of Natural Resources and

www.gravitypower.net Energy, Japan
33
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
• Second commercial technology for large-scale storage
• Two operating plants worldwide: 320 MW in Germany and 110 MW in USA

• Pressurized air is stored in salt caverns,

natural aquifers, depleted gas reservoirs
or aboveground vessels

• Advanced CAES without fuel needs

+ Long discharge time

+ Proven and commercial technologies
+ Large scale plants possible

- Fuel and emissions (conventional CAES)

- Rather low efficiency (42% without and
54% with recuperator)
- Costs uncertain if fueled with natural gas
PG&E (www.pge.com) 34
 Flywheel energy storage
• Commercially available

• Based on the use of rotational energy

• Suitable for power quality services and ride-through
• Applicable to mobile services
(rail vehicles and automobile industry)

+ High efficiency (85%) and long life cycles

+ Low response time (millisecond)
+ No fuel, spill, hazard,…
+ Scalable, 20 MW plant in New York for
frequency regulation
Not suitable for energy-related services

Beacon Power 35
 Electrochemical batteries
• A wide range of technologies available (based on material and process): lead-
acid, Ni-Cd, Li-ion, NaS, ZEBRA, etc.

• Suitable both for power and energy-related services

• Most concerns related to toxicity, material intensity, air conditioning needs, etc.
• From rather low efficiency to improved efficiency (e.g., Li-ion)
• Limited life cycle and lifetime resulting in high replacement
costs (e.g., lead-acid)

• Large batteries so far around 30-40 MW

(70 MW NaS project in future to Italy)
34 MW NaS battery connected to 51 MW wind farm, NGK
Insulator, Japan
36
 Hydrogen energy storage
• By electrolysis process, water is decomposed to hydrogen and oxygen
• Hydrogen storage in tanks, reservoirs, even natural gas pipelines (up to 5%)
• Stored hydrogen can be utilized in fuel cells or thermal engines

+ Long-term storage
+ Technology available
+ Different energy carriers
+ High energy density

- Low efficiency (35-42%)

- High capital and O&M costs

Source: FuelCellToday 37
Power to gas energy storage
• Hydrogen reacts with CO2 and produces synthesized methane (natural gas)
• Can be integrated with carbon capture and storage (CCS) processes

+ Different technologies available for storage, transfer, and conversion back to power
+ Long-term storage
+ Different energy carriers
+ High energy density
- Low efficiency (32-40%)
- Expensive

Source: Sterner, 2009

38
Think more about power to gas!
• A full range of energy carriers (power, heat, and transport fuel)

• Increasing system flexibility, is it an ultimate solution?

• New concepts: sail energy, wind fuel, power fuel, etc.

www.segelenergie.de www.skysails.info 39
Electricity storage in power systems
• In late1880s, EES were the original solution for night-time load in New York City private area
(lead-acid battery)

A) Without EES B) With EES

40
Group exercise: benefits (services) of storage

• Discuss with your group members:

- What are the use cases and benefits of electricity

storage?

- Who benefits from storage in that service? (e.g.,

electricity generator, system operator, end user, etc.)

41
Applications of electricity storage
• Wholesale energy services (bulk storage, arbitrage, ancillary services, and
frequency regulation)

• Renewable integration

• T&D support

• Distributed EES

18 applications with
different requirements

42
Applications of electricity storage (2)
• Benefits of EES should be first monetized/valued
• Benefits depend on the market design

Source: Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

43
Energy Arbitrage
• Charging in low power prices to sell at peak times ➔ power price difference
must be higher than marginal costs of EES

• Daily charge/discharge cycles or longer periods (from weekends to weekdays)

• Knowledge or estimation of
day-ahead power prices

➔ What is the impact of EES on

power prices?

(self-competition)

44
 Role of storage in balancing markets
• Balancing market are growing as a result of higher RE integration

• In balancing market, EES can make revenues both in charging (down-

regulation) and discharging (up-regulation)

• Some EES technologies are able to charge/discharge simultaneously

(Lund et al. 2012)

45
 Aggregation of benefits of storage
• EES potential for several applications ➔ aggregation of benefits

Goal: Making business model

Source: Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

46
Gas turbine vs. electricity storage
1. Application in power regulation 100 MW EES
100 MW gas turbine (efficient use)

10 minute ramp + Second time ramp

- 50 MW flexible range ++ 200 MW flexible range
- 20-30% useable hours/year + 95% useable hours
- Emissions + Reduction of emissions
Source:EPRI
+ Fast project implementation

2. Application for peaking plants (CF=5%):

LCOE for gas turbine 360, and for lead-acid battery 280-320 €/MWh
➔ It’s not always correct to compare the costs in €/kW or €/MWh (what criterion so!?)

47
Challenges and limitations of energy storage
• Today, lack of information regarding economy of EES is a barrier

• No free markets in some services that EES is a good candidate

• Regulatory supports should be defined by cost-benefit analysis

• Other system-level impacts of EES should be evaluated (RES integration)

• Effect of high penetration of EES in energy markets (self-competition)

• Scheduling, forecasting, and allocation in aggregation of the benefits

• Toxicity, material intensity, and environmental impacts of EES

48
Final notes
• EES is not a panacea ➔ comparison with alternatives required

• More commercialization is needed to evaluate costs/benefits in practice

• Economic features of EES should be clarified for defining business models (ownership
structure) and regulatory incentives

• Other alternatives and their impact on the development of EES ➔ for example, “smoothing
effect” of renewables in large-scale integration

• Impact of EU-level power markets with high capability of power exchange

• System-level impacts of EES and study of its socio-environmental benefits

49
 Further reading
• Our world in data (very useful visuals): https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy

• Database of EES projects worldwide: http://www.energystorageexchange.org/projects

• DOE energy storage handbook: http://www.sandia.gov/ess/publications/SAND2013-5131.pdf

• Gravity-based EES by rail vehicles (see the video): http://www.aresnorthamerica.com/

• Mountain Gravity Energy Storage: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116419

50
 Further reading: policy and economics
• Some articles related to policy, regulation, and market-economics of energy storage:

• Sani SB, Celvakumaran P, Ramachandaramurthy VK, Walker S, Alrazi B, Ying YJ, et al. Energy storage system policies: Way forward and opportunities for
emerging economies. J Energy Storage 2020;32:101902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.101902.

• Gardiner D, Schmidt O, Heptonstall P, Gross R, Staffell I. Quantifying the impact of policy on the investment case for residential electricity storage in the
UK. J Energy Storage 2020;27:101140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2019.101140.

• Castagneto Gissey G, Subkhankulova D, Dodds PE, Barrett M. Value of energy storage aggregation to the electricity system. Energy Policy 2019;128:685–
96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.01.037.

• Zame KK, Brehm CA, Nitica AT, Richard CL, Schweitzer GD. Smart grid and energy storage: Policy recommendations. Renew Sustain Energy Rev
2018;82:1646–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.07.011.

• Castagneto Gissey G, Dodds PE, Radcliffe J. Market and regulatory barriers to electrical energy storage innovation. Renew Sustain Energy Rev
2018;82:781–90. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.079.

• Zakeri B, Syri S. Electrical energy storage systems: A comparative life cycle cost analysis. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2015;42.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.011.

• When I showed the slide related to (Vanadium- Redox) flow batteries, some of you looked a little skeptic. See how politicians think about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBgENqVLJLs

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• Thank you for your attention!

Dr. Behnam Zakeri

Research Scholar (Energy, Climate, and Environment Program)
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria | www.iiasa.ac.at
Email: zakeri@iiasa.ac.at; Publications: Google Scholar