Energy storage has often been referred to as the ‘holy grail’ of the electric power system – an unattainable panacea that would greatly improve the grid if found. Come hear why it is no longer unattainable, but rather a true power system game changer making impacts today. Janice Lin of Strategen Consulting will show how energy storage is creating tremendous opportunities within the production value chain, throughout the grid, and across multiple industry sectors.
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The modern power grid was designed and is currently operated based on the premise that energy cannot be practically stored. That was a reasonable approach when both energy consumption and fossil-based generation were highly predictable and global warming a distant concern.
Today, with the implementation of large quantities of intermittent renewable energy and the concurrent electrification of transportation, the nature of demand and supply is rapidly changing and becoming more difficult to manage. Power plants struggle to balance supply and demand in real time, which causes a host of problems, including the need for large fleets of idling power plants, poor grid reliability and costly capacity additions that are utilized only a few days per year.
Energy storage is a broad asset class that can respond quickly to these imbalances by shaping and shifting energy to when it is needed most. Storage thus provides enormous local and system-wide benefits, including greater electric system reliability, more economical use of existing assets, faster response of the grid to changing loads, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved ability to integrate renewable energy.
With so many demonstrated and potential benefits, why isn’t there more advanced energy storage on the grid? In this talk, Strategen Consulting Managing Partner Janice Lin will discuss the major policy hurdles to integrating energy storage onto the grid, touching on why California is a role model for energy policy and how organizations like the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA) are working to create a level playing field for energy storage in the electric power sector. The discussion will also cover energy storage and the myriad benefits it provides, as well as the opportunities that will be created as storage and renewables transform our electric power system to be cleaner, more efficient, more reliable, and more cost effective.
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Free and open to the public.
Live broadcast at
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Webviewing at UC Davis: 1003 Kemper Hall
Webviewing at UC Merced: SE1 138
Webviewing at UC Santa Cruz: SOE E2 Building, Room 595B