Microrredes

Eléctricas
Inteligentes
 Julio César Viola

Ingeniero Electrónico y Doctor en Ingeniería

Profesor Titular Principal en la Carrera de
Ingeniería Eléctrica de la Universidad
Politécnica Salesiana (Ecuador )
 Introduction
S to ra ge tech n o lo g ies a s a s u p p o rt fo r ren ewa b le
energies d evelo p m ent: p resent a n d f u tu re tren d s
Current status of electricity generation from alternative sources
How much space do they occupy?
Limitations associated with the use of alternative energies: The need for storage
Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
Supercapacitors storage systems
Flywheel energy storage (FES)
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
Pumped hydro storage (PHS)
Summary of energy storage
 Current status of electricity generation from alternative
sources
• Renewables installed capacity growth surpasses all forecasts year over
year.

• Total installed capacity of generation sources based on renewables

energies has more than doubled between 2008 and 2018.

• Renewable energy production by the end of 2018 represented about

33% of world’s electricity generation.
Global Power Generating Capacity, by Source, 2008-2018
Global wind and PV Power Capacity, 2000-2018
How much space do they occupy?
How much space do they occupy?
Limitations associated with the use of alternative energies:
The need for storage
• The current state of the generation and future
projections suggest that it will not be a major problem
that alternative energies be the main source of
electricity.

• With the increase of renewables penetration, the

unavoidable intermittency of sources like sun and wind
imposes the need of energy storage systems, which can
help to stabilize the power injection to the utility,
making it more predictable.

• Major limitation is time and space avalilability: Where?

When?.
 Limitations associated with the use of alternative
energies: The need for storage
• Given the involved levels of generation from renewables, the classic
approach of storing electrical energy in batteries is not enough and
others techniques more easily scalable are being adopted, such as hydro
pumping, compressed air energy storage, and inertia wheels, among the
most relevant.

• Let’s see an overview of most common technologies used for massive

energy storage and analyze current and future projects for their
implementation.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
Key idea:
Surplus solar or wind energy is used to
charge batteries.
Major technologies

• Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)
• Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
• Sodium-Sulphur (NaS)
Battery energy storage systems (BESS)

• They are a consolidated technology, are easy to

use, are modular and scalable.
• They have as drawbacks, however:
– Life cycle between 5 and 15 years (depending
on the number of charge/discharge cycles).
– Frequent maintenance.
– Generate waste of difficult handling at the
end of its useful life.
Supercapacitors storage systems
Key idea:
Surplus solar or wind energy is used to
charge big capacitors.
Supercapacitors
• … also known as ultracapacitors
Supercapacitors

• Modules of 50 Farads and 170V are commercially available

• Energy storage capacity is:

E=0.5*C*V2=722500 J
Scalability

From a single cell …

… to containers
Virtual inertia
• Batteries and supercapacitors storage systems are
complemented with different techniques for
emulation of inertia.

• By means of controlled power inverters the current-

voltage profile typical of a synchronous generator can
be emulated.
Batteries’ main limitation

• World electricity consumption was well above of 22.000 TW.h in

2019.

• Current global battery production capacity is about 300 GW.h, i.e.

the batteries assembled along a whole year just can store the
energy consumed during 8 minutes!

• Current global battery production capacity must grow 21 times to

electrify the global vehicle fleet!
Let´s see more extreme solutions

• So far, presented methods are electrical or

electrochemical.

• In last years many new concepts for massive

energy storage have been proposed and/or
implemented in practice.
Flywheel energy storage (FES)
Key idea:
Surplus solar or wind energy is used to
spin a high inertia flywheel.
Flywheel energy storage (FES)
Flywheel energy storage (FES)
Flywheel energy storage (FES)
Technical characteristics:
• Round-trip efficiency >85%.
• Lifetime: >25 years
Frequency regulation installation based on flywheels
• Plants in Stephentown, New York and
Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, both
with capacities of 20 MW.
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
Key idea:
Surplus solar or wind energy is used to
compress air in rigid or flexibles reservoirs.
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)

First plant using CAES

(Huntorf, Germany).
Operating since 1978, has a
nominal power of 290MW.
Compressed air energy storage (CAES)

McIntosh plant
(Alabama, USA).
The plant has enough
stored air to help a
110-megawatt
turbine generate
power for 26 hours,
powering up to
110,000 homes.
Why use salt caverns?
Salt caverns make
good energy storage
reservoirs as they are
impermeable and
don’t react with
oxygen.
How about storing surplus energy in bags…
Hydrostor Inc. is using this method since 2015.
The method is called underwater compressed
air energy storage (UCAES).
Underwater compressed air energy storage
First installation
of UCAES based
on air bags is
operating in
Ontario Lake (5
km away of
Toronto).
Nominal power
is 1MW.
Pumped hydro storage (PHS)
Key idea:
Surplus solar or wind energy is used to
pump water from a lower reservoir to an
upper one.
Pumped hydro system scheme
Pumped hydro: highly scalable
 PHS installations
Ingula Power Plant, South Africa Castaic Power Plant, United States

Tumut-3 Power Plant, Australia

Installed capacity
Some calculations
While large PHS benefit from scale economy in the last years due to
the reduction in the costs of power electronics, pumped hydro can
be considered as a viable technique for energy storage in microgrids.
How much energy can be stored in 1m3 of water at 1m of height?
𝐸𝑝 = 𝑚. 𝑔. ℎ
𝑚
𝐸𝑝 = 1000 𝑘𝑔 . 9,8 2 . 1 𝑚 = 9800[𝐽]
𝑠
And how much power can be delivered from here?
– In 1 second: 9800 [𝐽]
𝑃= = 9800 [𝑊]
1 [𝑠]

– In 10 seconds: 9800 [𝐽]

𝑃= = 980 [𝑊]
10 [𝑠]
Some calculations

• The round trip efficiency of this technique is around 65%-75%,

depending on type of motor/generator used, design of the
pump/turbine, etc.

• The method can be used together with BESS.

Summary of energy storage
Summary of energy storage
Energy storage evolution.
Summary of energy storage
Sharing of energy storage systems in 2017.
Where are we going?

Fact:
All forecasts say that we are going to a future with
more (much more) generation from renewables.

Fact:
Then, we are going to a future with more energy
storage.
Where are we going?
What storage system will be the most used?

For low scale (residential, microgrids, etc.) battery storage is a

mature technology with continuosly decreasing prices.

For stabilization of main power grids, instead, pumped hydro

has a promising future due to high efficiency, and fast
response times.

Combined operation of both technologies can represent a

durable and efficient method for energy storage in microgrids.
 GRACIAS!
Preguntas?

Julio César Viola

jviola@ups.edu.ec