DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Optimal strategies for a cost-effective and reliable 100% renewable electric grid

Journal Article · · Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0064570 · OSTI ID:1834305

This paper explores cost-optimal pathways to 100% renewable power systems for the U.S. building stock. We show that long-duration misalignments of supply and demand, spanning from multi-day to seasonal timescales, present a dominant challenge that must be addressed to meet real-time 100% renewable targets. While long-duration misalignments can be addressed through energy storage, we show that alternative and readily available solutions that are more cost-effective should be considered first. Through a techno-economic analysis, we identify cost-optimal, region-dependent, supply-side, and demand-side strategies that reduce, and in some U.S. regions eliminate, the otherwise substantial capacities and associated costs of long-duration energy storage. Investigated supply-side strategies include optimal mixes of renewable portfolios and oversized generation capacities. Considered demand-side strategies include building load flexibility and building energy efficiency investments. Our results reveal that building energy efficiency measures can reduce long-duration storage requirements at minimum total investment costs. In addition, oversizing and diversifying renewable generation can play a critical role in reducing storage requirements, remaining cost effective even when accounting for curtailed generation. We identify regionally dependent storage cost targets and show that for emerging long-duration energy storage innovations to achieve broad adoption, their costs will need to compete with the decreasing cost of renewables. The findings of this research are particularly important given that most long-duration storage technologies are currently either uneconomical, geologically constrained, or still underdeveloped.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1834305
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1828825
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5500-77733; MainId:30648; UUID:f4c6d061-616b-49f8-a098-5ae109a898f4; MainAdminID:61804
Journal Information:
Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Journal Name: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 13; ISSN 1941-7012
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (41)

Beyond short-duration energy storage journal May 2021
Timescales of energy storage needed for reducing renewable energy curtailment journal January 2019
The value of seasonal energy storage technologies for the integration of wind and solar power journal January 2020
Overgeneration from Solar Energy in California. A Field Guide to the Duck Chart report November 2015
Storage requirements for high grid penetration of wind and solar power for the MISO region of North America: A case study journal February 2020
Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet journal November 2002
The design space for long-duration energy storage in decarbonized power systems journal March 2021
A review of energy storage types, applications and recent developments journal February 2020
Accounting for the Variation of Driver Aggression in the Simulation of Conventional and Advanced Vehicles conference April 2013
Optimum penetration of regional utility-scale renewable energy systems journal April 2018
How much electrical energy storage do we need? A synthesis for the U.S., Europe, and Germany journal April 2018
Analysis of load match and grid interaction indicators in net zero energy buildings with simulated and monitored data journal December 2014
A sensitivity analysis on large-scale electrical energy storage requirements in Europe under consideration of innovative storage technologies journal October 2020
Value of storage technologies for wind and solar energy journal June 2016
A review of compressed-air energy storage journal July 2019
An open source analysis framework for large-scale building energy modeling journal July 2020
The role of energy storage in deep decarbonization of electricity production journal July 2019
Flexibility mechanisms and pathways to a highly renewable US electricity future journal April 2016
Geophysical constraints on the reliability of solar and wind power in the United States journal January 2018
A review of greenhouse gas emission profiles, dynamics, and climate change mitigation efforts across the key climate change players journal October 2019
Evaluating the limits of solar photovoltaics (PV) in electric power systems utilizing energy storage and other enabling technologies journal September 2007
Faster Than You Think: Renewable Energy and Developing Countries journal October 2019
Modeling of Lithium-Ion Battery Degradation for Cell Life Assessment journal March 2018
Low-cost solution to the grid reliability problem with 100% penetration of intermittent wind, water, and solar for all purposes journal November 2015
Decarbonizing global power supply under region-specific consideration of challenges and options of integrating variable renewables in the REMIND model journal May 2017
Power system balancing for deep decarbonization of the electricity sector journal January 2016
Energy storage needs for the substitution of fossil fuel power plants with renewables journal January 2020
Utility-Scale Storage of Renewable Energy journal July 2004
Overbuilding & curtailment: The cost-effective enablers of firm PV generation journal March 2019
Analysis of the effectiveness of national renewable energy policies: A case of photovoltaic policies journal November 2017
Progress in electrical energy storage system: A critical review journal March 2009
Grid flexibility and storage required to achieve very high penetration of variable renewable electricity journal March 2011
Use of hydrogen as a seasonal energy storage system to manage renewable power deployment in Spain by 2030 journal May 2021
Thermodynamic performance and cost optimization of a novel hybrid thermal-compressed air energy storage system design journal August 2018
The value of flexible load in power systems with high renewable energy penetration journal December 2019
Inertia and the Power Grid: A Guide Without the Spin report May 2020
U.S. Department of Energy Commercial Reference Building Models of the National Building Stock report February 2011
Sustainability of remote communities: 100% renewable island of Hvar journal July 2013
A study on hydrogen, the clean energy of the future: Hydrogen storage methods journal August 2021
Seasonal thermal energy storage system for cold climate zones: A review of recent developments journal December 2018
Improving estimates of transmission capital costs for utility-scale wind and solar projects to inform renewable energy policy journal December 2019