Carlton Cummins, CTO and co-founder of clean tech firm Aceleron explains the role of energy storage as the energy transition gathers pace.
Thanks to the heightened seriousness of the climate emergency, combined with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the transition to renewable energy is well underway. Increased urgency and focus have, naturally, been placed on technologies that will improve our access to renewable energy and ultimately form a new energy infrastructure.
A large part of this new renewable energy infrastructure is likely to rely on energy storage. It is absolutely essential therefore that the technologies we come to depend on will be sustainable and built to last – first and foremost to reduce the impact on the environment but also, because replacing large-scale energy storage entirely will be an extremely costly and wasteful process.
In fact, battery waste across the board is going to become an increasingly serious concern – if it isn’t already. The majority are made using raw materials that the Earth has a finite amount of, so making sure that we get maximum use before recycling or safely disposing of them is critical from a sustainability point of view.
Finding a reliable, long-life energy storage solution
Currently, the most widely referenced battery materials sit within the Lithium-ion family. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) has no cobalt – which comes with geopolitical concerns and a hefty price tag. It is amongst the least volatile, with the highest safety ratings and is also popular for renewable energy storage on account of its longer lifespan – particularly for stationary applications.
There has been a lot of interest in recent years in pushing the boundaries of LFP and this has resulted in a gradual improvement in energy density that should continue to improve over time.
This gradual improvement in energy density is worth bearing in mind when searching for the right energy storage solution for a larger application. There are serviceable, repairable and upgradeable battery technologies available, where individual parts can be removed independently for repair or to be replaced with a newer, more energy-dense material as technology evolves over time. Replaced parts that still have use can be repurposed into other products, creating a circular economy – the gold standard of sustainability.
Meanwhile, the service and upgradability of such a system work to extend its lifespan, reducing the total cost of ownership and retaining its usefulness as energy storage technology improves. This combination of clean energy compatibility and future-proof longevity work together to make it a worthwhile investment.
This is what will provide the renewable energy infrastructures we build today with the ability to keep going for as long as possible, making the most use of the materials used to build the product in the first place.
Energy storage: some considerations
Although cost will be a significant factor, there are longer-term risks in going for the least expensive. Taking the following into consideration will make all the difference to energy storage and management in the future:
- How will the product be serviced and supported? Loss of power may happen sometimes. Having support based locally is the key to safeguarding energy continuity – including having access to replacement parts. Waiting for them to be shipped from overseas is far from ideal on many levels.
- What safety standards are in place? There are a number of internationally recognised safety standards that must be met. As a minimum, the product needs to meet the UL 1973 (standard testing for stationary applications) and IEC 62619 and/or IEC 62620 (which means that any secondary cells have been tested for industrial application.)
- What is the overall environmental impact? It’s important to look at the entire life cycle of the product, starting with: how much carbon was produced during the build process, what materials were used and where it will be shipped from. This is also where the expected lifespan comes into consideration – the longer it lasts, the better for the environment and budget.
It’s an exciting time for innovation in the energy storage industry as we work to come up with long-term solutions to secure reliable, steady access to renewably sourced energy 24/7. It’s just so important to avoid the temptation to source cheaper, short-term options based on current requirements. We have to get this right first time and create the foundations of a robust infrastructure for future generations to build on.