Oct 21 2010
NanoMarkets, a company that provides reports on upcoming market opportunities for various energy markets, has recently produced a report titled ‘Energy Storage Opportunities in the Wind Power Industry’.
The report details the growing commercial chances for energy storage companies in the wind power generation. The report indicates that the energy storage systems alone will have the capability to overcome some of the major barriers in the development of wind power generation. It predicts over $1.1 billion worth of business opportunities for the energy storage systems by the year 2015.
The report indicates that in spite of various forecasts on the fast growth of the wind turbine industry and its market in the coming years, the growth cannot be maintained without dealing with the problem of energy storage solutions. The report details the need for addressing the erratic wind power generation. It pointed out that the excess wind power generated during low power demand times is often wasted and it indicates that the erratic power generation often disrupts the grids which are built to accommodate only steady power supply. The report mentions about the conventional lead-acid batteries which symbolize an older cost-effective technology and the need to switch over to better performing battery systems such as sodium sulfur, lead-carbon and flow. It predicts that lead-carbon batteries will take a major chunk of the battery market share with their sales amounting to $300 million in 2015. The report also indicates the emerging of other mechanical storage systems such as compressed air storage or pumped hydroelectric storage.
The report mentions that China will emerge as the major buyer of energy storage systems and will become responsible for nearly one third of the total sales of energy storage systems from all over the world. It indicates that the Chinese government is planning to spend billions of dollars in improving its energy storage facilities which forms a part of its grid up gradation process. The report concludes that the opening of the Chinese markets provides opportunities not only for the local companies but also for the companies from all over the world.