The role of energy storage on the power generation side

Storage technologies are a promising option to provide the power system with the flexibility required when intermittent renewables are present in the electricity generation mix. This paper focuses on the role of electricity storage in energy systems with high shares of renewable sources.

The power sector needs to ensure a rapid transition towards a low-carbon energy system to avoid the dangerous consequences of greenhouse gas emissions. Storage technologies are a promising option to provide the power system with the flexibility required when intermittent renewables are present in the electricity generation mix.

Future energy systems require more storage facilities to balance the higher share of intermittent renewables in the upcoming power generation mix (Benato and Stoppato, 2018), especially as the demand for electric power could push capacity to 7200 GW by 2040 (International Energy Agency, 2014).

Conclusion and policy implications The role of electricity storage in the renewable transition is essential for achieving the decarbonisation of the power system. In this paper, we present a model comparison approach for four models (G E N e S Y S - M O D, M U S E, N A T E M, and u r b s - M X).

The model comparison assesses electricity storage role and its modelling challenges. Storage enables lower cost transitions including high variable renewables uptakes. Carbon taxes might promote non-variable rather than variable renewables. Diversity in storage costs, geographical, and temporal granularity affects outcomes.

Energy storage is crucial for successfully building an energy system model containing large shares of VRES. In their review of 75 energy systems models, Ringkjøb et al. (2018) highlight that the vast majority of them include at least one technological option for electricity storage.