Energy Storage Market Overview and Forecasts

The stored energy market has grown exponentially but this is nothing compared to what we can expect to see in the coming years. Massive growth is expected all around the world and this will contribute to an exponential increase in distributed power in developed nations. This will also allow developing nations to forego the need for a expensive investments in grid infrastructure.

The combination of increasing-efficiency and decreasing-cost will keep driving demand for energy storage in 2017 and beyond.

Lithium-ion

Lithium-ion technologies accounted for more than 95 percent of new energy-storage deployments in 2015. There is no reason to believe that this trend will not continue. Given all the options on the table lithium-ion batteries have proven to be the most suitable type of storage for EVs and stationary energy across the grid, from large utility-scale installations to residential systems.

Event - California Energy Storage: Cost Effectiveness and Beyond

California Energy Storage: Cost Effectiveness and Beyond will take place on Thursday, April 17, 2014, 1:00pm - 3:30pm PST/ Streamed Panel Discussion 1:30pm - 3:00pm PST/ 4:30pm - 6:00pm EST. Meeting in San Francisco.

In October, 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission issued the unprecedented Decision requiring the state’s utilities to meet energy storage procurement targets of 1.3 gigawatts of storage by 2020. The Decision is intended to:

1. Assist in optimizing California’s electricity grid, including peak demand reduction, improving reliability, and deferring investments in transmission and distribution upgrades
2. Facilitating integration of renewable energy onto the grid
3. Contributing towards the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Event - Wind Farm Data Management & Analysis 2013

This event will take place on September 23-25, 2013, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg, Germany. Wind Farm Data Management and Analysis 2013 will focus on implementing an effective data management strategy to reduce O&M costs.

Windpower Monthly’s Wind Farm Data Management and Analysis Forum is the ONLY event focused on understanding how to optimise wind data to reduce O&M costs and improve turbine performance.

Topics covered include R&D from leading industry heavyweights including: OWI-Lab, ECN, RWTH Aachen, DTU Wind Energy, Fraunhofer Institut (IWES) & Durham University.

Course - Wind Power Planning School

Wind Power Planning School will take place on September 9-13, 2013. This course is presented by Green Power Academy / London. These three integrated courses combine to provide a comprehensive introduction to the Resource, Technology & Planning Aspects of the Wind Power Business, for business people and non-engineers.

For more information click here.

Course - Wind Energy (WND)

Wind Energy (WND) will take place on Sunday Sep 8, 2013, in Woodbridge, ON at the Living City Campus, Kortright Centre, 9550 Pine Valley Drive. This workshop is designed to introduce participants to the criteria for the selection of a wind energy system.

Video- Energy Storage Technology for Offshore Wind Turbines

A new technology employs concrete spheres to generate electricity when there is no wind to turn the blades.

Wind Energy Storage Solution Employing Concrete Spheres

Offshore wind holds tremendous promise, however the intermittent and unpredictable presence of wind imposes limits on this technology. However a new approach from researchers at MIT may have solved this problem with an approach that stores energy to be used when there is no wind.

This concept employs huge concrete spheres which would anchor wind turbines to the sea floor. When a wind turbine produces more energy than is needed, power would be diverted to drive a pump attached to the underwater structure, pumping seawater from a 30-meter-diameter hollow sphere. Then when there is no wind the water would flow back into the sphere through a turbine attached to a generator, producing energy.

A 25-meter sphere could store up to 6 megawatt-hours of power. One thousand spheres attached to wind turbines could produce as much coal or nuclear plant.

The system could also operate with shore based renewable sources of electricity like solar plants. Preliminary estimates indicate that one such sphere could be built and deployed at a cost of about $12 million but as the spheres are mass produced costs would come down. This could result in an estimated storage cost of about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Harnessing Wind Energy Without Blades

Wind turbines are a large and growing source of energy but the turning blades have led to concerns about sound and impacts on bird populations. People have also complained that such wind turbines are an eye-sore. A new structure designed by Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo and installed at the Delft University of Technology convert wind to energy without any moving parts.

The new technological innovation was developed by the Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science faculty at Delft. It uses the movement of electrically charged water droplets to generate power.

Event - Offshore Wind Economics & Finance Europe 2013

Offshore Wind Economics & Finance: Europe 2013 will take place on Wednesday 16 October - Thursday 17 October in London, United Kingdom. ACI’s 2nd Offshore Wind Economics & Finance: Europe will take place on 16-17 October 2013 in London, UK. Bringing together 50-80 of the industry’s leading experts and executives from across the entire value chain (banks, international financing institutions, VC/PE companies, offshore wind farm owners/operators, utility companies, offshore wind farm developers, wind technology suppliers and R&D, government and regulators, lawyers and insurance firms) for two days of interactive discussion, excellent networking opportunities and the very latest updates from project investment activity around Europe, ACI’s 2nd Offshore Wind Economics & Finance: Europe will present you with the knowledge, experience & contacts you need to drive your business forward.

Event - Offshore Consenting Conference 2013

The second edition of the Offshore Consenting Conference 2013 will take place on 26 June 2013, in London, United Kingdom. This event encourages industry-wide coordination to optimise processes through consenting regimes. As the first Round 3 projects come closer to being consented, it is important to assess and learn from the challenges that have been encountered throughout the process in order to look forward to consenting future offshore wind schemes.

To see the conference agenda for 2013 click here.

Highlights will include:

• The latest interpretation of the Habitat Regulations and progress of developments since Defra’s Implementation Review Future-proofing consents – strategies for incorporating R&D unknowns into applications
• Approaches for defining cumulative impact constraints and best-practice methods for assessments
• An update of on the Planning Inspectorate’s consenting regime one year on and what challenges the first projects through the system have faced

Event - Global Wind Power Finance and Risk

The 4th annual Global Wind Power Finance &  Risk conference and exhibition will take place on 19—20 June 2013, London, United Kingdom. This event is the premier annual wind finance gathering, it brings together c-level representatives from leading utilities, developers, financiers and investors, providing not only outstanding scope for networking with decision-makers, but also targeted and in-depth conference sessions.

Who Attends Global Wind Power finance? Previous attendees have included:

• A word about wind • ABB • ABO Wind • Ackermans & Van Haaren • ADB • Aephoria capital • African Development Bank • Alatec Ingenieros Consultores y Arquitectos • Alstom • Alterra Power Crop • AMSC • ArcLight Energy Marketing • AREVA Energietechnik • Areva Renewables • Argus Media • Augusta & Co • Availon Holding • AWS Truepower • Bank of America Merrill Lynch • Bank ofIreland • Barclays • BBC Chartering • Belwind & InControl • Beten International • BEWAG • Blackrock Lntemational Limited -renewable Power Group • Bloomberg NEF • BNP PARIBAS • Boralex Inc • BTC • California Independent System Operator • Campbell Lutyens & Co • Cape Wind

New Discoveries of Lithium Deposits

There is an increasing demand for Lithium that is putting upward pressure on the cost of this rare earth mineral, but the discovery of new deposits will help address this growing demand. Lithium is an element that powers the modern world. A vast and growing number of portable devices including electronics like phones, tablets and laptops depend on lithium and so do electric and hybrid cars.

Some of the top producing countries for lithium are Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. These three countries are known as the “lithium triangle.” Chile is the world’s leading source of the element, turning out around 40 percent of global supply, however discoveries in Bolivia, (which opened its first lithium pilot plant in January), suggest that the country may have 50 percent of the world’s reserves, which is enough to power 4.8 billion electric cars.

Event - Energy Storage Conference

The Energy Storage Conference will take place in Nice, France on the 27th and 28th of February, 2013. The conference will bring together key industry stakeholders to conduct a thorough cost analysis and comparison on various EES systems and their roles in the business strategies and blueprints of grid operators

For more information click here (pdf).

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3rd Annual Electric Energy Storage 2013 (Event)

The 3rd Annual Electric Energy Storage will take place on January 8-10, 2013 at the Embassy Suites Biltmore, in Phoenix, AZ. The event is subtitled, "Assessing the Technological and Economic Potential of Electric Storage Operations for Real-Time Applications."

Revolutionary Liquid Energy Storage Technology

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new inexpensive battery technology that could revolutionize energy storage. This new battery technology could prove to be the holy grail of renewable energy storage, particularly at night when there is no light to power solar cells or when there is no wind to turn turbines. The new storage technology could overcome the obstacle of intermittent supply which is the greatest obstacle facing the widespread adoption of clean energy.

Toronto Greenhouse - Green Cars Event

On July 24, 2012,Toronto Greenhouse will present a Green Cars event in Toronto, Ontario. This event will answer questions like: How sustainable is your vehicle? Should everyone drive electric? Is fuel efficiency the answer? The discussion will be focused on green cars and will include representatives from General Motors, smart Canada (Mercedes-Benz) and Plug'nDrive Ontario.