The technology is available now to run the electricity grid without carbon emissions, the director of the National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) has said.
Fintan Slye told a conference on batteries and storage, held earlier this week by consultancy Aurora, that the grid’s target to run for an hour on a zero-carbon basis by 2025 is achievable.
But the technology is not advanced enough yet, he said: “Some technology hasn’t been deployed at a commercial scale but we think we can see a pathway.
“We don’t want to be a blocker to renewable technologies, we want to bring them on as quickly as possible.
“We want to make sure when they are available that we don’t have to curtail them and we want to maximise the use of those resources.”
Slye also said that the blackout on 9 August, which left thousands of homes without power and rail commuters stranded, had “rightly” kicked off a discussion about the “appropriate level of resilience” that the UK wants in its electricity system.
“It pushes things forward and means we will have structured conversations about some of these things and some actions will move much quicker but I don’t think that disruption to society and the economy is a ever a good thing.”
The conference also saw the publication of new research by Aurora, which identifies the need for up to 30GW of short-duration storage by 2050 in order to help balance out fluctuations in the 100GW of new wind and solar generation that it estimates will be required to help deliver the net zero emissions target.
Around 8.5GW of short term back up capacity, such as that provided in conventional batteries, will be required to help electricity system to ‘ramp up’ within half an hour when there are big swings in demand at certain times of day.
Another 20GW of longer-term backup capacity would be required to cater for extended windless spells, which happens for around two weeks per annum.
Alternative forms of ‘long-duration’ storage capacity, such as compressed or liquid air storage, will be required in a net zero scenario even though they are not yet commercially viable.
Dr Mark Kubik, market director of Siemens owned storage technology and services provider Fluence, said the use of batteries would increase as the electricity system’s reliance on renewable generation grows.
He said: “It’s a steeper and steeper climb as you get to 100 per cent (reduction in emissions). You can get to 80 per cent with just daily storage, beyond that you need inter-seasonal storage which is a very different asset class and a different set of requirements. Fortunately, we have a little longer to think about that.”