The worst pandemic in nearly a century,
Such a spiral of dramatic events has made it difficult to keep track of stories that don't flare up in 24-hour news cycles or trend easily on Twitter, such as renewables' steady rise in the
This was confirmed only last week by the
Ambitious government targets have followed. They include ramping up solar power from 14GW to 70GW by 2035 and boosting offshore wind from 11GW of assets to 50GW by the end of the decade - alongside an ambition to reach 10GW of hydrogen over the same time period.
The challenge now for the Government is harnessing that potential rapid expansion - making the possibility of storing that energy to meet the
BATTERY STORAGE: THE PLUSSES AND NEGATIVES The
By contrast, the current timeframe for lithium-ion batteries storing renewable energy is a matter of hours.
Meanwhile mechanical options, such as pumped hydrogen and socalled liquid air have clocked in at around a day of storage.
He expected both continued innovation in the sector and wide array of energy sources to be available to meet the
Bell said: "Each have a different role to play - electrical stores tend to be optimal for intraday solutions, mechanical for intraweek and chemical for intraseasons. Getting the mix of these assets right is a challenge for both Government and the system operator [
But that doesn't mean gas is going anywhere quickly, either.
In his view, the West would have to maintain gas reserves not just for the renewable transition but for future emergency situations after
"Everybody became somewhat complacent, having had no war in
For the first 11 months of 2022,
In the past month, £82m was spent turning off - as first reported by Kona Energy - even amid periods of record generation.
When approached for comment, a spokesperson for its electricity system operator said: "Like many system operators across the world, we make constraint payments to help us keep the electricity network in balance at all times.
"These payments to temporarily reduce generation output are more economical than to over-build expensive new infrastructure. We constantly analyse the balance between constraint costs versus the cost of building new assets and are working with industry to reduce the impact of network constraints while building a greener system."
Zenobe has commercial contracts to develop large 200-300 MW battery facilities which would store power for multiple hours every day, and would be available for the grid during surges - meaning
The
(c) 2023 City A.M., source