ENERGY STORAGE: A CRITICAL SOLUTION

Mervin Ekpen Azeta(Future Energy Leader, World Energy Council & Completions

Engineer, Schlumberger)

A DARK CONTINENT?

Image courtesy of NASA/GSFC.

ENERGY FAST FACTS

Sadly, more than 600 million of those are in Africa...

Image courtesy of thisisafrica.me

According to World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2016, 16-17% of global population live without electricity!!!

..and demand for energy services by households across the continent is rising significantly...

AFRICA’S ENERGY POTENTIAL

Image courtesy of Beyond Ratings Portal..a mix of energy resources!!!

IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING ENERGY LANDSCAPE…

… we cannot afford to STAND BY!!!

CLOSING THE GAP“We’re tired of seeing Africa in the dark…”

Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

WE NEED AN ENERGY REVOLUTION!!!

GENERATING RENEWABLE ENERGY IS ONE THING…

• The traditional grid system requires careful matching of demand and supply.

• Intermittency - fast daily fluctuations in output – of solar and wind energy disrupts grid operation.

Here is why:

For areas WITHOUT grid access: Taking this energy and making it available off the grid is ALTOGETHER a different

ballgame!

For areas WITH grid access: Plugging this seamlessly into the grid is another thing! And this is a HUGE

challenge!

WHY ENERGY STORAGE?

An environmentally friendly way reliably add large amounts of

intermittent renewable generation!

Storage, particularly at gigawatt scale, can:

• increase the economic value of solar and wind

• decrease carbon emissions by replace fossil fuel systems

• add flexibility (and stability) to power system infrastructure, operation, and market design, bridging gaps between supply and demand across space and over time.

ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONSA suite of services…

Source: SNL (2010) Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid

ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIESEnergy storage technologies are classified as follows:

• Mechanical Energy Storage (MES)

By capacity, more than 96% of global energy storage is today made up of large scale pumped hydro projects. (Ref: IEA Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2016)

PHS Flywheels CAES

ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES• Electrochemical Energy Storage (EES)

…lithium ion, advanced lead acid, sodium sulphur, metal air, flow batteries….

ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES• Thermal Energy Storage (TES) – such as molten salt

Image courtesy of Cleanleap.com

ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES• Chemical Energy Storage (CES) – such as energy converted and

stored as hydrogen.

CHALLENGES• Relative to competing technologies, energy storage technologies are

still TOO expensive.

• Limited FUNDING & SUPPORT for Research, Innovation, Development, Demonstration and Deployment.

• ILL-EQUIPPED regulatory and market conditions to compensate storage for the suite of services that it can provide.

• Weak policy reforms, bad governance and corruption, limited institutional capacity, etc.

• Others include: site topography, political and legal constraints.

ADVANCING ENERGY STORAGE• Economies of scale.

• Technological innovation – higher energy density, safety, reduced capacity loss.

• Increased financial support.

• Coordinated policies, mandates, tax incentives, and subsidies.

• Strong and consistent regulatory & market frameworks.

Tesla’s Gigafactory, Reno, Nevada, USA.

NOTABLE PROJECTS IN AFRICA

• Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, South Africa.

• Loisaba Conservancy (EES), Kenya.

• SOPRA: Food-processing factory Sustainable Power Plant, (EES), Nigeria.

Installed Capacity: ~193GW

THANK YOU!

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding

conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

- Dr Martin Luther King

REFERENCES• US Department of Energy (DOE) Global Energy Storage Database:

http://www.energystorageexchange.org/

• IEA Technology Roadmap - Energy Storage: http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/TechnologyRoadmapEnergystorage.pdf

• Global Energy Storage Market Overview & Regional Summary Report 2015: http://neca.asn.au/sites/default/files/media/state_nsw/News%20&%20Views/ESC%20Global%20Energy%20Storage%20Report_2015.pdf