Battery Energy Storage Systems as a Game Changer in the Transformation of Global Power Industry

Solar and wind electricity generation has increased more than 6 times during the past decade and the share of these energy sources in electricity production in some countries has already reached 30% or more. The dependents of solar and wind power plants on weather conditions significantly increases the requirements for the level of system flexibility in the electric power industry, which are going to grow as the low-carbon paradigm advances. The article focuses at the analysis of the prospects for the development of battery energy storage technologies as the main source of increasing the ability of the power system to effectively adapt to the changes in demand and supply over different time horizons. The author shows that, firstly, the abrupt acceleration in the rate of commissioning of large-scale stationary electricity storage systems in 2020–2021 is of a long-term nature and is due not only to a significant reduction in the cost of lithium-ion batteries, but also to state support and special tuning of electricity markets regulation in the United States, China and some European countries. Secondly, the competition among manufacturers in the lithium-ion battery market is bound to intensify. Thirdly, existing technologies allow only intraday storage of electricity with acceptable costs. The development of a lowcost method for long-term storage of electricity could radically expand the boundaries of variable renewable energy sources and open the way to achieving carbon neutrality. Many large companies and small start-ups, as well as leading universities and laboratories, are actively searching for such a technology with the support of government funding and private financing, including venture capital.