Forced energy storage is bad news

Why is energy storage oversupply a problem?

The expansion is driven mainly by local governments and lacks coordination with new energy stations and the power grid. In some regions, a considerable storage oversupply could lead to conflicts in power-dispatch strategies across timescales and jurisdictions, increasing the risk of system instability and large-scale blackouts.

What is the future of energy storage?

“The Future of Energy Storage,” a new multidisciplinary report from the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), urges government investment in sophisticated analytical tools for planning, operation, and regulation of electricity systems in order to deploy and use storage efficiently.

Is excessive energy storage a problem?

Spyros Foteinis highlights the acknowledged problem that an insufficient capacity to store energy can result in generated renewable energy being wasted ( Nature 632 , 29; 2024 ). But the risks for power-system security of the converse problem — excessive energy storage — have been mostly overlooked.

Why is electrical energy so difficult to store?

Ever ephemeral, electrical energy is difficult and expensive to store in large quantities. The lack of good storage options has plagued utility operators for generations.

Is excessive energy storage a threat to China's power system?

But the risks for power-system security of the converse problem — excessive energy storage — have been mostly overlooked. China plans to install up to 180 million kilowatts of pumped-storage hydropower capacity by 2030. This is around 3.5 times the current capacity, and equivalent to 8 power plants the size of China’s Three Gorges Dam.

Is energy storage a must?

"If we want to have a significant part of our energy come from renewable sources,storage is a must," says Ali Nourai, manager of energy storage at American Electric Power, a utility company in Columbus, Ohio, and chairman of the Electricity Storage Association, a trade association in Washington DC.