Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality
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electrical grid or to have household battery storage to save the electricity
for later use.
This chapter will focus on balancing supply and demand within the context of a smart grid system, when solar and wind generation are present
and they supply close to 100% of the power at some times. Energy storage
in batteries and other systems are included both because stored energy can
help to meet demand and because surplus power can flow into batteries for
storage.
8.2 New Developments in Storage
Because solar and wind technologies do not have carbon emissions associated
with electricity production, there has been great long- term interest and
progress in the transition to these renewable systems. It is also important
to understand, though, that the cost of electricity generated with solar and
wind has declined significantly since 2010; this, along with decreases in
battery costs, have created growing interest in energy storage technologies
for balancing supply and demand of electric power. The economics of solar
and wind generation are now such that a significant portion of new generation in 2017 and 2018 was via solar and wind. The vanguard locations for
implementing these new systems, though, are places where the economics
are most favorable.
For instance, Hawaiian electric companies have received very favorable
proposals for seven solar generation plus battery storage systems to generate and deliver electricity on Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu. At the time of this
writing, these are contracts that have been submitted to the Public Utilities
Commission for review. The cost per kWh ranges from $0.08– $0.12 for
systems, which include solar generation and battery storage (Colthorpe,
2019). Since the cost of electricity generation with imported fuel oil is about
$0.15/ kWh, the cost of the new system is projected to be very economically
beneficial to the Hawaiian communities and to the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions as well. Batteries within such a system turn out to be superior
to natural gas peaking plants because the batteries can be used to store excess
power when supply exceeds demand.
It is also worth noting that, within this particular example, there are
also solar panels on many homes and buildings in Hawaii. About 11% of
total electricity demand in Hawaii is provided by solar. However, some
of the utilities have needed to curtail excess rooftop solar energy that
is available to feed into the grid because of grid management problems
(Thurston, 2019). There are efforts now to upgrade the grids with smart
meters and other improvements that will improve communication and
grid management.
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80
electrical grid or to have household battery storage to save the electricity
for later use.
This chapter will focus on balancing supply and demand within the context of a smart grid system, when solar and wind generation are present
and they supply close to 100% of the power at some times. Energy storage
in batteries and other systems are included both because stored energy can
help to meet demand and because surplus power can flow into batteries for
storage.
8.2 New Developments in Storage
Because solar and wind technologies do not have carbon emissions associated
with electricity production, there has been great long- term interest and
progress in the transition to these renewable systems. It is also important
to understand, though, that the cost of electricity generated with solar and
wind has declined significantly since 2010; this, along with decreases in
battery costs, have created growing interest in energy storage technologies
for balancing supply and demand of electric power. The economics of solar
and wind generation are now such that a significant portion of new generation in 2017 and 2018 was via solar and wind. The vanguard locations for
implementing these new systems, though, are places where the economics
are most favorable.
For instance, Hawaiian electric companies have received very favorable
proposals for seven solar generation plus battery storage systems to generate and deliver electricity on Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu. At the time of this
writing, these are contracts that have been submitted to the Public Utilities
Commission for review. The cost per kWh ranges from $0.08– $0.12 for
systems, which include solar generation and battery storage (Colthorpe,
2019). Since the cost of electricity generation with imported fuel oil is about
$0.15/ kWh, the cost of the new system is projected to be very economically
beneficial to the Hawaiian communities and to the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions as well. Batteries within such a system turn out to be superior
to natural gas peaking plants because the batteries can be used to store excess
power when supply exceeds demand.
It is also worth noting that, within this particular example, there are
also solar panels on many homes and buildings in Hawaii. About 11% of
total electricity demand in Hawaii is provided by solar. However, some
of the utilities have needed to curtail excess rooftop solar energy that
is available to feed into the grid because of grid management problems
(Thurston, 2019). There are efforts now to upgrade the grids with smart
meters and other improvements that will improve communication and
grid management.