Flow Batteries In Ireland  

Renewable Energy Access has an article on Ireland's plans to use flow batteries to provide energy storage for wind farms on the west coast.

The gigantic wind turbines in Donegal on the west coast of Ireland are not only standing on the geographical limits of Europe -- they are also on the cutting edge of a revolutionary technology for storing large amounts of energy from wind power.

Battery storage could be especially useful when wind power feeds into a grid that belongs to a so-called "island" such as in the UK and Ireland, but also in Spain on the Iberian Peninsula— in effect an electrical island with limited interconnections with France in the north and Morocco in North Africa.

The 32-megawatt (MW) wind park in Sorne Hill will be the first in Europe to integrate a big back-up battery system that will ensure a reliable supply of electricity no matter how big the fluctuations in the wind might be.

"The battery enables large amounts of energy from wind or solar power to be stored, managed, controlled and sent into the electricity grid when it is needed. It doesn't matter whether the wind is blowing or not, the battery makes the electricity output predictable and reliable," said Tim Hennessy, CEO of VRB Power Systems, the Canadian manufacturers of the battery.

Analysts say the potential market for technology that can provide reliable storage for large amounts of energy from wind and solar power is huge.

Battery storage could be especially useful when wind power feeds into a grid that belongs to a so-called "island" such as in the UK and Ireland, but also in Spain on the Iberian Peninsula — in effect an electrical island with limited interconnections with France in the north and Morocco in North Africa.

By contrast, the electricity grids of the big European wind nations of Germany and Denmark are interconnected with their northern neighbors. Excess wind power from these countries goes all over Europe with the grid effectively acting as a huge storage system.

Also, Germany is harnessing the full spectrum of renewable sources such as hydropower with dams and biomass to provide a back up to wind. It also has lots of salt mines to store energy in the form of compressed air.

However, the "electrical islands" of Ireland and Great Britain with little hydropower and a scarcity of salt mines could need huge amounts of battery storage as they expand their use of wind power so that the ingress of wind power into the system doesn't lead to grid instability.

Wind parks on a colossal scale are being planned in the UK and Ireland. The UK is planning to install 33 GW of capacity of offshore wind power by 2020. Ireland has 1000 MW of wind power but is planning to install 2,400 MW of wind by 2016 and 4,300 MW by 2020 to reduce the country's reliance on imported fossil fuels and cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

That means the 2-MW battery in Sorne Hill, Buncara, due to be in operation in 2009, could be just the start. Hugh Sharman of Incoteco ApS, Denmark, a contractor with VRB, estimates that Ireland could need as much as 1000 MW of battery storage capacity by 2016.

As oil and gas prices continue to rise, the battery storage system will become more cost effective.

A Mwh of electricity generated by wind turbines in Ireland costs 70 euros [US $106], making it much cheaper than the equivalent electricity generated by natural gas, said Sharman. These prices offset the high initial investment costs of the battery.

The battery could also be used to capitalize on different tariffs for peak and off-peak electricity: electricity could be stored during off-peak hours when the cost is low and fed into the system in peak hours when the price is high.

The UK would need up to 12,000 MW of battery storage to balance out the system if the country goes ahead with its plan to install 33 GW of wind capacity by 2020 and decides to use batteries as a back up, Sharman said.