Mar 9 2010
GBI Research’s report, “Global Advanced Energy Storage Technologies Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2015” provides an in-depth analysis of the advanced energy storage technologies market. This report covers key energy storage products such as super capacitors; Flywheel based Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), Pumped Hydro systems, Super Conducting Magnetic Energy Storage systems (SMES) and Compressed Air Energy Storage systems (CAES).
The research study provides a detailed assessment of the global advanced energy storage industry by giving market sizing and forecasts for each of these key product sectors. The report’s treatment of the global advanced energy storage technologies market is comprehensive with dedicated sections on technology landscape, cost estimates etc, for each of the market sectors.
The switch to renewable energy sources is gaining momentum and this ramp-up of renewable energy generation is expected to spur the deployment of advanced energy storage technologies. Advanced energy storage technologies are widely considered as ideal technologies for alternative energy generation. Energy generated from wind\solar is variable as these sources are reliant on factors such as wind velocity, wind availability and sunshine. Wind and solar renewable energy sources are not scalable i.e. electricity generation cannot be ramped up to meet the fluctuations in demand. Advanced energy storage technologies play an important role by storing the energy during the off peak hours or surplus time and making it available when demand occurs. They can be seamlessly integrated with the renewable generation plants and their fuel consumption is minimal. As a result the growth of the renewable energy market is likely to be the most important driver of the advanced energy storage technologies market going forward.
Climate change and carbon emission concerns are expected to aid the deployment of these environment friendly systems which do not contribute to carbon emissions and do not face any disposal problems like batteries.
Advanced energy storage technologies are optimized for use in renewable energy generation plants. These energy efficient systems consume less fuel and contribute to lower carbon emissions than traditional fossil-fuel based technologies. Further, these advanced energy storage systems do not involve any chemical process during their operation process which ultimately results in low carbon emissions. Traditional batteries such as lead-acid batteries or sulphuric acid batteries contribute significantly to harmful green house gases emissions. However, advanced storage technologies such as CAES, flywheel energy storage, SMES and supercapacitors have zero carbon emissions while pumped hydro has only a very low emission factor.
The global economic debacle has pulled the plug on credit availability, compounding financing problems. Less fund availability will act as an obstacle to the progress of advanced energy storage technologies in the short term. The uncertainty over the recovery path of the global economy is adding to the woes of manufacturers of flywheel energy storage and supercapacitors. Key consumers such as datacenters are keeping a close tab on economic developments as they make investment decisions on storage systems. Most of the senior managers interviewed for this report admitted that they are waiting for an economic turnaround before making any purchase decisions on capital equipment such as advanced energy storage technologies. This “wait and see” approach taken by the prospective customers is expected to stretch the sales cycle. This challenge is expected to decline starting in 2011 when the global economy is expected to have somewhat recovered.
Huge initial capital costs have for a long time tethered the takeoff of advanced energy storage technologies. The capital costs of the power conditioning system and all other equipment necessary to supply power of the various advanced energy storage technologies are high. Cheaper competing technologies such as advanced batteries are further denting the attractiveness of expensive advanced energy storage technologies energy technologies. The total capital cost per kW for advanced energy storage technologies is much higher than that of the traditional batteries. Interviews with key end users of energy storage systems validated the high initial cost requirements for advanced energy storage technologies.
The table below provides a comparative analysis of capital requirements for various advanced energy storage technologies: The costs given do not include site permitting, interest during construction and substation costs. As a result of these high capital outlay requirements, GBI Research forecasts relatively slow growth for this market in the medium term.
Issues and concerns regarding the integration of energy storage technologies with the incumbent battery technologies are still unresolved. The integration of existing storage devices with advanced energy storage technologies is vital to reduce the installation costs associated with advanced energy storage technologies. Currently available strategies or policies for the integration of legacy and advanced energy storage technologies are toothless and ineffectual. GBI Research identifies creation of foolproof policies and strategies for seamless integration of advanced energy storage technologies with existing ones as an important challenge to the advanced energy storage technology vendors.