A group of experts is expected to finalise details this week of a road map to install 160 Gigawatts (GW) of battery storage worldwide in 2030, reports Jason Deign of Energy Storage Report. The plan, being developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), would see nearly four times as much battery storage being deployed in the next 15 years as all the solar power installed worldwide to date.
The road map is due to be launched this summer following feedback next week from political, industrial and scientific experts at an International Energy Storage Policy and Regulation workshop at the Energy Storage Europe 2015 Conference and Expo. IRENA is an intergovernmental organisation that supports the spread of renewable energy worldwide.
“The road map will guide IRENA’s 139 member states on the key activities needed to support energy storage for the global expansion of renewable energy,” said IRENA last week in a press release.
The need for 160GW of battery storage is based on IRENA’s REmap 2030 study of how to double the share of renewables in the global energy mix from 20% in 2010 to 40% by 2030.
Solving socio-economic issues
This growth is needed “to avoid the worst effects of climate change and solve a host of other socio-economic issues,” IRENA says.
Dolf Gielen, director of IRENA’s Innovation and Technology Center, said in a press statement: “Electricity storage systems can support the accelerated deployment of renewable power generation in multiple applications, from residential to utility-scale.
“International cooperation to exchange best practices and coordinate efforts to reduce costs and facilitate deployment are critical at this stage, which is why the road map for electricity storage will be instrumental.”
More than 40 policymakers from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, as well as Pacific and Caribbean island states, are due to attend this week’s workshop, the fourth of its kind held by IRENA.
Up to 600GW of storage capacity
At last year’s event, Gielen noted that government projections of renewable energy penetration had tended to underestimate true growth.
Of the 400 to 600GW of storage capacity needed to deal with this renewable energy increase, up to around 325GW will come from pumped storage.
But the volume of battery storage is expected to soar, too, on the back of increasing electric vehicle penetration.
According to IRENA, the volume of lithium-ion battery-based storage is due to rise from 100MW in 2012 to around 25GW in 2020, and 150GW in 2030.
As for the recommendations likely to come out of this year’s meeting, the need for pricing and market reform, both flagged last year, are clear front-runners.
The proceedings from last year’s workshop also made it clear that the road map would focus on electricity storage even though “thermal applications … will be important and in many cases the cheapest options for coping with variable renewables.”
International cooperation activities
The working group pointed out that there were already a number of other electricity storage road maps in existence, so it would seek “to focus on the identification of international cooperation opportunities for electricity storage for renewables.”
“The road map should focus on both the prioritisation of action items for electricity storage deployment for renewables as well as the identification of international cooperation activities,” concluded the group last year.
“Ideally, key activities with progress indicators, cost/ budget outlays and timelines should be prepared for the individual stakeholders and for different regions.”
Much of this detail will presumably be decided on Tuesday. If IRENA is really expecting to see 160GW of battery storage by 2030, there isn’t really that much time to lose.
(This news story is from Clean Technica)
