GC080-03
Role of long-duration energy storage in variable renewable electricity systems

Friday, 11 December 2020: 20:45
Virtual
Jacqueline A. Dowling1, Katherine Rinaldi1, Tyler Ruggles2, Steven J Davis3, Mengyao Yuan2, Fan Tong4, Nate Lewis1 and Ken Caldeira2, (1)California Institute of Technology, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Global Ecology, Stanford, CA, United States, (3)University of California Irvine, Department of Earth System Science, Irvine, CA, United States, (4)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
Reliable and affordable electricity systems based on variable energy sources such as wind and solar may depend on the ability to store large quantities of low-cost energy over long time-scales. Here, we use 39 years of hourly U.S. weather data, and a macro-scale energy model to evaluate capacities and dispatch in least-cost, 100% reliable electricity systems with wind and solar generation supported by long-duration storage (LDS; 10 hours or greater) and battery storage. We find that the introduction of LDS lowers total system costs relative to wind-solar-battery systems, and that system costs are twice as sensitive to reductions in LDS costs as to reductions in battery costs. In least-cost systems, batteries are used primarily for intra-day storage and LDS is used primarily for inter-season and multi-year storage. Moreover, dependence on LDS increases when the system is optimized over more years. LDS technologies could improve the affordability of renewable electricity.
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