Will renewable energy be the answer to bring down power prices?
With climate change and its effects globally, the need for a reduction in greenhouse gasses is much needed. This has created a huge demand for economical and sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar. Wind and solar energy come at zero marginal cost of production, and with installation costs coming down drastically these will over time drive power prices down when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. This has brought renewable energy into the money in increasingly more regions, and in some, it is even more profitable to build new photovoltaic (PV) or onshore wind plants than to operate existing coal power plants.
This inherent advantage is also renewable energy’s Achilles heel. Harvesting the energy of the weather has created a major challenge in providing a predictable supply of energy for a stable power system. The need to overcome intermittency issues is creating a massive demand for both short- and long-term energy storage systems at present and will do so even more in the coming years.
Are battery energy storage systems the enabler of a fully renewable energy system?
By charging when there is an abundance of clean renewable energy and discharging when there is not, energy storage is not only the enabler but completely needed to complete the transition to a fully renewable energy system. Lithium-ion battery energy storage is the most promising technology in our attempt to reach a fully renewable energy system in the foreseeable future. Through many years of research and commercialization, lithium-ion batteries have become the most cost-effective way to provide reliable storage solutions that meet the demand of a modern power system.
Despite these great advantages, the cost of new lithium-ion battery systems makes them unprofitable for many applications. It should also be noted that even if it supports the growth in renewable energy, producing a new lithium-ion battery system requires the mining of rare earth minerals and large amounts of energy, meaning that it does come with a substantial environmental impact. A recent study estimated that the production of lithium-ion batteries leads to 61-106 kg of CO2e per kWh produced.
How can repurposed energy storage systems help accelerate this transition?
To overcome the cost disadvantages and environmental footprint of new Lithium-ion batteries, repurposing quickly growing amounts of discarded EV batteries is a key enabler to accelerate the transition. Even when accounting for aging effects, repurposed batteries can reduce the CO2 footprint by up to 90% compared to new battery systems.
As car manufacturers have some of the highest quality standards for their batteries - designing them to withstand vibration, shock, heat, cold, fast charging - EV batteries are some of the highest quality lithium-ion batteries on the market. Second-life applications like stationary storage in stable environments pose a much simpler life with stable temperatures and lower currents, which is the reason why these batteries are expected to live up to 10 years in such applications.
At Evyon we are fully determined to become world-leading in reused batteries by developing a data-driven approach to maximize the value of every battery. By leveraging the power of data insight and analytics in our Battery Cloud with reliable hardware integration, we are able to uniquely understand each battery and control it to both meet and exceed the expectations set for modern battery systems. Through enabling a world of affordable and sustainable battery solutions, we are fully determined to realize our vision of a fully renewable future for everyone.
Click here to learn more about our current product offering, or reach out to us if you want to learn more about how we can assist your need for energy storage.
