Over the years, the use of renewable energy had always been the last option for energy developers. This had stopped when the cost for developing renewable energy systems had dropped tremendously causing developers to step in the world of renewables. For one, the advantage of renewable energy tramples non-renewables due to its infinite source of energy which gave rise to sustainability. However, the difficulty with renewables like solar and wind is that it’s always fluctuating depending on a number of factors. This is where Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) appears — to compensate for the fluctuating nature of renewables. Therefore, its main benefit is to provide energy day in and day out even when wind and solar are not readily available.
Similar to the steady decrease of solar systems, from $10/ watt in 1988 up to an economically viable $1/ watt nowadays, it has been an ongoing race for Battery Energy Storage Systems as well. The target cost for a 95% EAF (Equivalent Availability Factor) is at $150/kWh for energy capacity costing. Although it’s already a challenge to reach that pricing, it’s highly likely that this amount can be reached at a much faster pace than initially predicted. So, why Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)? Although the current trend is oversizing systems to compensate for the higher energy consumption, the curtailed energy will always be wasted since energy storage systems are not yet commercially viable.
This, however, brings us to the fact that we are not using excess energy due to economic viability reasons. Therefore, a renewable- battery system will definitely solve this problem of using excess energy when necessary. In the long run, since PV and Battery Energy Storage Systems are getting cheaper as we know it, the future of energy might revolve around these types of hybrid systems where energy will be readily available 24 hours a day without consuming depletable natural resources.
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