Techno-economic analysis of deploying a short or mixed energy storage strategy in a 100 % green power grid

Abstract

A fully decarbonised electricity grid with extensively deployed renewable systems is a fundamental step in transitioning to a net-zero world. Unlike fossil energy, renewable energy systems are subject to meteorological intermittency. However, few studies have investigated the techno-economic performance of integrating short- and promising long-duration energy storage into a 100 % renewable energy grid to balance short-term and inter-seasonal demand.This research developed an economic model to investigate the techno-economic performance of standalone and combined energy storage solutions for a fully green grid in three defined scenarios. Lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion), hydrogen, and electrical thermal energy storage (ETES) were selected as promising storage technologies due to their maturity, commercial availability, and scalability. The three examined scenarios are: 1) Li-ion battery only, 2) Li-ion battery with ETES, and 3) Li-ion battery with hydrogen. The research aims to determine whether combining long-duration energy storage (e.g., ETES and hydrogen) with Li-ion batteries offers greater economic and technical benefits, resulting in a more affordable, resilient, and secure power supply.The results show that the Li-ion battery only scenario (Scenario 1) requires a capacity of 234,956 MWh. Adding ETES and hydrogen reduces this capacity to 53,304 MWh (Scenario 2) and 7020 MWh (Scenario 3). The addition of ETES and hydrogen improves power supply flexibility, increasing the proportion of generated electricity used to meet demand from 32.7 % in Scenario 1 to 41.2 % and 52.3 % in Scenarios 2 and 3, respectively. These technologies also help avoid electricity deficits, reduce the loss of power probability (LOPP), and lower the cost of electricity supply losses from $8365 million in Scenario 1 to $1793 million in Scenario 2 and only $4 million in Scenario 3. Power delivery costs decrease from $99.5/MWh in Scenario 1 to $77.6/MWh and $76.6/MWh in Scenarios 2 and 3, respectively. The research concludes with four policy recommendations to advance long-duration energy storage and transition to a fully green power supply system.