3 - The Demand for Energy Storage

Abstract

The effective use of existing, depletable fossil fuels and the utilization of renewable alternative energy sources demands economical and efficient energy storage with flexibility in operation and siting. The availability of suitable energy storage systems will have a favorable impact on some areas. This chapter highlights these areas. This broad range of possible applications for energy storage devices is unlikely to be satisfied by a single method. In addressing the demand for development of storage devices and systems with different technical and operational characteristics, two quite different groups of applications are considered. These are stationary applications and transportable applications. Electric power systems have a well established need for large-scale energy storage that is met in part by pumped hydroelectric storage. The full potential of utility energy storage can be attained only through development and implementation of more broadly applicable storage technologies. One of the clearest examples of the demand for transportable stored energy is the need for an alternative to the filled petrol tanks in the cars. While the main constraint for most stationary applications is low cost, there are, for the transportable applications, some additional technical constraints, such as power density and energy density, both with respect to volume and weight of the storage unit.