Navigant Research says energy storage systems (ESS) will become an integral element of grid operators' overall strategies as they adapt to increasing levels of variable generation on their systems. The market research firm predicts ESS for solar and wind power integration will total 21.8 GW from 2013 to 2023.
More than 1,300 GW of wind and solar power generation capacity are expected to come online in the next 10 years, says a new report from Navigant. As a result, the report says, key markets in North America, Western Europe and the Asia Pacific region will experience new levels of instability and increasingly turn to ESS to compensate.
‘Several of the major markets for renewables, including Germany, Japan and the United States, have enacted rules or legislation encouraging the adoption of energy storage systems for the purpose of integrating variable energy sources onto the grid,’ says Anissa Dehamna, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. ‘These market incentives come in various forms, including outright subsidies for ESS adoption, reforms that change how variable generation is compensated and adjustments to connection requirements for variable power plants.’
In particular, changes to the compensation arrangements for variable power generation will have significant influence on the market for ESS for solar and wind, the Navigant report says. Compensation mechanisms have changed drastically over the past 10 years, according to the report, and many compensation schemes have grandfather clauses. In other words, existing wind and solar systems have much different compensation rates and structures than newer systems coming online.
The report, ‘Energy Storage for Wind and Solar Integration,’ analyzes the global market opportunity for energy storage for wind and solar integration across three key application segments: wind, non-distributed solar photovoltaics and distributed solar PV. The report assesses the demand drivers, policy factors and technology issues associated with the market for energy storage in these growing applications.
