Long Duration Energy Storage: A Path to Energy Resilience
Oct 2, 2023
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Julia Souder, CEO of the LDES Council, discusses long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies and their role in decarbonizing the energy system. She explores the importance of standards, local politics, and different types of batteries. The podcast also highlights the market potential and investment needed for LDAS technology.
Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) is crucial for decarbonizing the energy system with a focus on affordability.
LDAS solutions encompass various technologies across mechanical, thermal, electrochemical, and chemical categories.
LDAS is attracting significant capital from traditional investors, impact investors, and financial institutions, supporting its scaling.
Deep dives
The Importance of Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES)
Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) is crucial for the decarbonization of the energy system, especially with a focus on affordability. LDES encompasses technologies that can store significant amounts of energy for extended periods, ranging from several hours to weeks. The LDES Council, a non-profit organization, drives the innovation, commercialization, and implementation of LDES technologies by bringing together various stakeholders. The field of LDES is rapidly evolving, and it is expected to catch up with renewable energy technologies in terms of development and deployment in the coming years.
The Need for LDAS to Address Renewable Energy Fluctuations
The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, poses challenges in terms of economic fluctuations and service intermittency. LDAS aims to directly confront this challenge by providing long-duration energy storage solutions. By storing renewable energy when it is available and utilizing it during periods of low or no generation, LDAS ensures a more reliable and stable energy supply. While many LDAS solutions are currently lagging behind renewable energy technologies, they are expected to see significant growth and development in the near future.
The Versatility and Diversity of LDAS Solutions
LDAS encompasses various technologies across four main categories: mechanical, thermal, electrochemical, and chemical. Mechanical solutions, such as traditional pumped hydro, have been in use for over 100 years and provide a reliable backbone for the energy system. Thermal solutions leverage heat storage to fulfill industrial and heavy energy demands. Electrochemical solutions involve different types of batteries, like flow batteries, metal-iron batteries, and air batteries, each offering distinct advantages in terms of duration and cost-effectiveness. Chemical solutions, such as hydrogen and ammonia, utilize chemical compounds for energy storage and offer versatility and the potential for transmission applications.
Diverse Applications and Buyers of LDAS Solutions
LDAS solutions are being sought after by a wide range of customers. Commercial and industrial buyers are increasingly including LDAS as part of their power purchase agreements, ensuring a reliable supply of renewable energy combined with energy storage. Industries that require heat, such as agriculture, cement, and refineries, also benefit from LDAS for decarbonization. Utilities and grid operators are exploring LDAS to enhance grid operations, alleviate congestion, and integrate renewable energy at scale. Additionally, fossil fuel companies are looking to transition to LDAS to utilize existing infrastructure and to support a more sustainable energy future.
Evolution of LDAS in the Capital Market
The capital market for LDAS is evolving rapidly. Traditional investors, debt and equity providers, as well as impact investors and ESG-focused entities, are recognizing the potential and profitability of LDAS. Institutions like banks, insurance companies, and warranties are increasingly involved in LDAS projects. As LDAS technologies advance and become better understood, the capital stack is shifting from risky investments to more mainstream financing. The market is attracting significant capital, and partnerships with governments, industry associations, and financial institutions are supporting the scaling of LDAS.
Julia Souder is the CEO of the LDES Council. "But what's LDES," you might be wondering? LDES stands for Long Duration Energy Storage, encompassing technologies capable of storing significant energy from 10 hours to weeks. The LDES Council, a global nonprofit membership organization, is dedicated to propelling the decarbonization of the energy system with a focus on affordability. They drive innovation, commercialization, and the implementation of long duration energy storage technologies, uniting technology and equipment providers, renewable energy firms, utilities, grid operators, investors, and end consumers. Julia's career is rooted in the crossroads of renewable energy and energy resilience. Her experience includes roles such as Director of Intergovernmental relations at NERC, the North American Energy Reliability Corporation, director of Western Renewable Grid planning at NRDC, and most recently, executive director of the Long Duration Energy Storage Association of California.
We've previously explored various long duration energy storage solutions on the show, making this conversation with Julia even more intriguing. Often we hear the phrase, "The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow," in the context of renewables, leading to economic fluctuations and service intermittency. This is a challenge that LDES aims to confront directly. Although many long duration energy storage solutions are currently trailing renewable energy technologies in development and deployment, Julia explains that this is expected to change significantly in the coming years.
In this episode, we cover:
[02:51]: Julia's journey in renewable energy
[04:19]: The 2003 Blackout Investigation
[05:35]: The North American Electric Liability Corporation (NERC)
[09:38]: The emerging need for energy storage
[11:10]: Overview of the Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council and their goals
[13:43]: Long duration energy storage vs. short duration energy storage
[15:51]: Overview of historical and new categories of LDES solutions
[18:23]: Deep dive into thermal solutions
[24:59]: Types of electrochemical batteries for LDES
[27:44]: Chemical solutions
[29:59]: Buyers and use cases of LDES solutions
[35:27]: How LDES projects are sold and deployed globally
[40:29]: Areas Julia is optimistic about, what needs attention, and evolution of capital for LDES
[44:18]: Julia's parting words on the importance of LDES
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Episode recorded on Aug 23, 2023 (Published on Oct 2, 2023)
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