A quick intro to electricity storage technologies by Arup

With renewables becoming more prominent in many countries’ energy pictures, the issue of intermittency is become more and more relevant. As Steve Saunders from Arup points out in his Thoughts article “*Storing electricity evens out the intermittency in supply that comes with technologies such as wind or solar. Without it, a grid is limited to around 18% renewables – a point Germany has already reached and the UK is close to*.”

I found this guide, put together by Arup, quite interesting and handy. It summarises the key characteristics of some storage technologies, and the full doc can be downloaded here

The following technologies are explained at a very high level, with info on

the advantages, disadvantages and possible applications. A nice intro into energy storage.

– Sodium Sulphur (NaS) Batteries – Flow Batteries – Lead Acid Batteries – Lithium ion (Li-ion) Batteries – Sodium Nickel Chloride Batteries – Liquid Air Energy Storage – Compressed Air Energy Storage – Pumped Hydro Energy Storage – Pumped Heat Electricity Storage – Flywheels – Hydrogen – Superconducting Magnet Energy Storage – Super Capacitors