Low-Cost Utility Scale Offshore Energy ® Storage i Rohit Fenn, Remy Dygert, and Mike McDermott Abstract In order to curb anthropogenic climate change, deep decarbonization of the electric grid is essential. Although the economical front of technologies like wind and solar power has improved, the fundamental intermittency of these sources of energy remains a challenge. Cheap, reliable and scalable storage solutions are urgently required. Most energy storage technologies are either expensive (Lithium on) or geographically constrained (Pumped Hydro). Low cost bulk energy storage could be a vital catalyst in decarbonizing our current grid infrastructure and would increase the competitiveness of offshore renewables considerably. This paper explores the feasibility of a large scale offshore floating Osmotic Energy Storage (OES) system. OES stores electrical energy by desalinating a clean, mixed solution to create a chemical potential between NaC! brine and freshwater in a closed loop system, It recovers this energy in a controlled membrane based mixing process called Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO). An offshore digitally operated Reverse Osmosis-Pressure Retarded Osmosis based OES system could be scaled up to upwards of 6 MWh to function as storage for coastal utilities or offshore com- munities. The core value proposition is in its economical, modular and environ- mentally benign design that could increase access to large scale energy storage integration to the grid globally. Keywords Energy + Storage - Offshore - Economical » Desalination R. Fenn (3) Sterling College, Craftsbury, VT, USA e-mail: rohitfenn@ gmail.com Community College of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA R. Dygert SUNY Albany, Albany, NY, USA e-mail: redygert@ gmail.com M, McDermott Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, USA. e-mail: defenestrated23 @ gmail.com © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 383 L. Pigtek et al. (eds.), WCFS2020, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering 158, hitps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2256-4_23384 R. Fenn et al. 1 The Importance of Energy Storage to Decarbonization To slow down rapid anthropogenic climate change the deep decarbonization of electricity production is an imperative challenge for society to overcome. The pace of progress in renewable energy development is improving but a compelling scalable remedy for the fundamental intermittency of renewables still remains largely absent [1]. Intermittency of production can be observed in both diurnal and seasonal cycles, Apart from a need for stable baseload power, peak production and consumption are offset in the infamous ‘duck curve’ [2]. The concept of electrical energy storage is simply to store energy when it is abundant and recover it when it is scarce There is consensus that for energy storage to scale, it must be much cheaper, almost an order of magnitude cheaper than prices today. Analysis has determined that energy storage would have to cost roughly US $20 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the grid to be 100% powered by a wind-solar mix [3]. Pumped hydro systems currently dominate energy storage globally and can often be economical. However, the fact that it is geographically constrained to hilly terrain makes them limited in their ability to scale [4] ‘This paper presents a novel configuration for an economical, scalable and environmentally benign off-shore osmotic energy storage system (OES). The technology stores electrical energy by creating a chemical potential through desalinating a solution into concentrated brine and freshwater. Energy is then recovered from the system in a controlled mixing of the two produced solutions by a membrane based process, which in turn runs a turbine. All processes performed in a closed loop. It essentially utilizes a concentration gradient to generate a potential and recover useful work. Given that a mature industry is established around the desalination of saltwater and that the materials used in the system are low cost, it could be economical. The size and capacity of the storage can be arbitrarily increased by adding membranes, pumps and using larger reservoirs for the solutions, making it scalable. The use of saltwater as the solution in which the chemical potential is created while floating offshore makes it environmentally benign. As the prospects of offshore wind and solar gain momentum, a cheap energy storage system could further increase their competitiveness [5, 6]. 1.1 Osmotic Energy Storage: Parallels to a Flow Battery A flow battery typically is a configuration where a chemical potential is created and then recovered by two chemical components dissolved in liquids contained within the system and separated by a membrane, However, most flow batteries are different because their solutions are electrolytes and have an active electrochemical role. In comparison, this largely mechanical. A mixed NaCl solution is desali- nated using modified Reverse Osmosis and then the energy is recovered using aLow-Cost Utility Scale Offshore Energy Storage 38: ups, Transmission & Distribution Bulk Power Power Quality Grid Support Management Targe scale] Type of electrical energy | storage ‘storage (EES) Discharge time at rated power GD 5 50rAx er) ear con - (omy) Forward Osmosis Pressure-retarded Osmosis Reverse Osmosis Fig, 2. A graphical representation of the key differences between the three osmotic processes [18] salt flux and Internal Concentration Polarization, Membrane deformation can be reduced with the right spacer geometry that provides it structural integrity at high pressures [24] (Fig. 3). ‘The first public experimental installation of PRO technology was at the StarKraft plant in Norway in 2009 [26]. It was designed to generate 10 KwH in an open system that employed a naturally low and high salinity stream respectively to generate power. Although practical power densities from the membranes used at the time in an open loop system were not achieved, many leamings came out of that experiment. ‘Some reasons for low power densities achieved at the early Starkraft installation had to do with low performance membranes, the salinity difference between streams and the pressures utilized in the process. Itis evident that multiple roadblocks to commercialization still remain, Beyond membrane performance, the optimal configuration of a PRO system is crucial to its success. Attempting open systems for power generation might pose more chal- lenges around fouling and performance than a closed loop system that can cycle cleaner feed and draw solutions. 1.2.1 PRO Membrane Qualification Test Numerous lab bench scales have confirmed the higher membrane performance with high draw salinity and high pressure. There is increasing consensus in the research community that High-Pressure PRO Holds Promise as an Economical Means of Salinity Gradient Power Generation [27]. After qualifying the membrane, support layer and spacer combination, the fabrication of the PRO spirally wound mem- branes is essential to packing the most active membrane surface area. Achieving comparable power density and performance in this configuration when compared to388 R. Fenn et a. @ Draw Solution Spacer Filament Spacer Filament Feed Solution Membrane without Deformation “’ ) Draw Solution / Compressive Stress (perpendicular tothe membrane sut/ace] lied Hydraulic Pressure a enn Tele stress hongentiel se de marvenn sortsd} Stresses Exerted on the Membrane Surface Feed Solution Membrane Undergoing Deformation Fig. 3 Schematic illustration of the coupled effects of hydraulic compaction and tensile stretching on the membrane deformation in the PRO operation. a Membrane is in the original state without deformation, b membrane is undergoing deformation in the PRO testing, and € magnified image of dotted area in (b) to illustrate the coupled compressive stress and tensile stress exerted on the active layer surface when membrane is undergoing deformation. The coupled effects of compaction and stretching could influence the overall membrane separation and structural parameters in the PRO process (24, 25]. Adapted with permission from She et al. (2016), Copyright (2016) B.V Elsevier lab testing might pose a challenge. At the StarKraft plant, 5 W/m? was identified as a target power density for economical power generation, bench scale tests have access 10 times that [26] (Fig. 4; Table 1). 1.3 Multi-stage Processes: Hybrid Systems Theoretical modelling has made evident that to increase energy density and roundtrip efficiency, multi stage systems can be helpful [31]. This means having membrane modules connected in parallel allows for a larger processing volume but having successively smaller sets of membrane modules connected in series can enhance the systems capability to store and recover energy more efficiently. Designing in the ability to digitally switch membrane modules from parallel flow toLow-Cost Utility Seale Oflshore Energy Storage 389) = amines PPE Conduct ventiroca | -_ J iene. HP Pump i fans PC Fig. 4 A typical lab-bench experimental assembly to test membrane performance [27]. Adapted with permission from Straub et al. [28]. Copyright (2014) American Chemical Society Table 1 Studies that have investigated membrane performance at high pressure and salinity with existing Forward Osmosis membranes [27, 29] Study Membrane Brine cone. Pressure | Power density Madsen et al. | HTI Spiral wound 3M (180 g/L) NaCl draw | 40 bar | 30 Wim? Go) ‘membrane solution Madsen et al. |FTS CTA (cellulose | 3 M (180 g/L) NaCl draw | 60 bar [31 Wim? (30) acetate) solution Straub etal, | HTI- TFC (thin-film 3M (180 g/L) NaCl draw | 48.3 bar | 59.7 W/m? [8] composite) solution ‘Some tests employ different test cell designs, spacer geometries and support layers. series flow can enable a variable battery power rating and discharge rates. Figure 5 depicts the useful work input and recovered from the system in both single and multi stage configurations, 1.4 Energy Density and Roundtrip Efficiency: Tradeoff It is worth noting that theoretical models suggest an energy density of an OES system with multi-stage processes can be similar to that of a 500 m high pumped hydro plant, Albeit, with a lower round trip efficiency. While PH can achieve about 80-90% energy recovery, this technology can achieve close to 60% round trip efficiency [31]. However, this lower round trip efficiency can be compensated for as renewably generated energy becomes much cheaper as they scale. This energy is currently curtailed when it is overproduced. Utilities operating offshore generation can still find value by integrating energy storage. The competitiveness of offshore wind and solar can both be considerably enhanced with the ability to load balance over the grid [28, 30]390 R, Fenn et a. Pressure Pressure Vor Vor View Volumetric flow- Draw Side Fig. 5 Multi stage systems can yield more efficient RO and PRO processes [31]. Adapted with permission from Bharadwaj and Struchtrup [31]. Copyright (2018) Royal Society of Chemistry 1.5 Closed Loop, High Pressure and Hyper Saline Systems A synthetic NaCl solution in a closed loop system introduces the ability to optimize salinity to access maximum power density and membrane performance. In turn, reducing the capital cost further as it reduces the total number of membrane modules required. A closed loop system also enables significantly reduced membrane fouling as a cleaner solution is run and fluxed through the membranes, increasing. their longevity. 2 Offshore Battery: Scaling Up an OES System Capacity An OES system can be scaled up with the integration of more pumps, plumbing, membranes and solution reservoirs. Theoretical modelling of multi stage s suggest that a storage plant capable of storing 6MWhs of electricity would have to store 5000 m? (roughly two olympic swimming pools) of total solution. A multi stage plant of this scale can have an energy density of 1.2 kWh m° [31]. This is on the lower scale of energy densities with existing battery technologies having energy storage densities ranging from 50 to 500 kWh m: to fuel cells that have an energyLow-Cost Utility Scale Offshore Energy Storage 391 density of S00-3000 kWh m* [4]. However, with a system out in the open ocean, there is certainly a reduced need to optimize for energy density in order for it to scale. A larger system with a capacity of 1 GWh of electrical energy storage would require storing at least 106 m° (1000 million liters) of liquid [31]. This scale of storage is conceivable with floating bags in the ocean but would be impractical to achieve on land. However, it is worth noting that the GWh scale would incorporate additional losses to the system, Some optimum scale of components and desired energy storage need that is most economical can be determined and the system can be made modularized to integrate multiple units (Figs. 6 and 7). Fig. 6 Rendering of a mixed offshore wind and solar farm integrated with OES energy storage Fig. 7 Large scale OES system with a large floating bag for the mixed solution and two smaller bags for brine and freshwater. Plumbed into a central floating platform with the membrane ‘modules, pumps and turbine392, R. Fenn et al. 2.1 Floating Tensegrity Platform and Bags as Storage Cost considerations for the floating platform are important to consider for the system at large. Using a barge will likely increase capital costs. ‘Dweep’ is a low cost, modular floating tensegrity based platform with efficient stress distribution. Developed and tested by Sea6 Energy in Bangalore, India, This platform could also enable offshore solar farms Floating bags for offshore water storage have already been tested and developed both in the United States [28] and Europe [30] for the transport of freshwater in the ocean using tugboats. For the OES application, the volumes are comparable but it is largely stationary and hence can be simpler, durable bags (Fig. 8). 2.2 Environmental Considerations and Public Reception Besides techno-economic factors like costs, power rating and discharge times, broader issues of sustainability, safety and governance that surround a large scale energy storage system are considered of major importance. Scaling up any gtid-scale storage solution requires careful selection of battery chemistry, materials and considerations of environmental impact to be commercially viable and globally relevant. In the diagram above, technology is inserted into the inner circle if it is con- sidered to comply (if it is very safe, sustainable and with no political issues) and is inserted into the outer circle if it complies with caveats, Note that the distance between dots has no meaning. The intersection of the inner circles represents the golden area with any storage technology that complies with all three aspects and is Fig. 8 Floating solar powered desalination plant on Sea6’s Dweep tensegrity based platforms [25]Low-Cost Utility Scale Oflshore Energy Storage 393 considered desirable from a societal point of view [7]. Although currently, no technology is located in this ‘sweet spot’, OEs may be a worthwhile technology to consider in this domain. Floating OES systems can have a lower ecological impact by not displacing land. The system’s components are environmentally benign in comparison with some other storage systems that may include rare elements and metals. Its primary solution chemistry being NaCL makes it relatively less toxic to extract, use and discard once the battery has completed its life cycle. More importantly, an OES system can have crucial parts with a lower lifecycle like RO and PRO membranes replaced to increase the overall longevity of a storage system considerably. 2.3 Systems Integration and Conclusion An offshore OES system may be autonomously computer controlled with sensors that enable analytics, predictive maintenance and remote operation, all of which will enhance such a storage system’s value proposition. Advanced smart battery grid integration has benefited utilities that can buy power when it’s cheap and abundant to sell the energy when it’s scarce and more expensive. A low cost- environmentally benign energy storage solution that scales well and uses predominantly available technology is a viable candidate for economical energy storage in the twenty-first century. 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