Wind Energy Planning

The Chinese State Grid company is to join the energy storage seekers this year according to state news agency Xinhua this week.

The State Grid is set to build a pilot integrated renewable energy power storage system this year utilising battery technology. The demonstration project is to be built in Zhangjiakou, Hebei and speculators predict the build costs will be circa 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion).

Renewable energy would be utilised to a far greater degree if storage technology can be cracked and made economically feasible. The energy from renewables could be stored in reserve for times when the wind does not blow or sun does not shine. It could also help grid network companies manage and control the amount of renewable electricity coming onto the grid without renewable generators losing out financially.

The US Government allocated over US $180m to battery storage companies earlier this year. There are also compressed air and large scale pumped hydro storage projects the country.

In Europe French nuclear company EDF and ABB carried out research last year on an energy storage system to help the grid handle new power generation from a UK offshore wind energy project known as ‘Flexible AC Transmission’ using lithium-ion batteries and superconductor power transistors to manage loads on the grid network and avoid voltage problems.