This is the second in a series of posts on grid energy storage. In Energy Storage 101, we discussed how various customer types can benefit from storage.In this post, we discuss key storage technologies and identify the economic value chain for battery storage. Next week, we will examine, in detail, the economics of commercial behind-the-meter storage in Energy Storage 201.
Energy Storage Technologies
A variety of energy storage technologies have been/may be used for each the applications we described in Energy Storage 101. However, there are some technologies that are simply better for some applications than others. Here we will briefly examine the some of the more popular technologies:
- Pumped hydro
- Lithium ion batteries
- Lead acid batteries
- Sodium sulfur batteries
- Flow batteries
- Others (flywheel, compressed air, other batteries, etc.)