Since the electrical grid has existed, so has the need for stored forms of energy that can be drawn on to meet times of peak demand and regulate frequency. In the past, the bulk of this extra energy came from fossil fuel plants that were fired up and down with demand.
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Source: The Energy Times, United States Department of Energy
As variable renewable resources make up a larger percentage of power generation resources, the need for stable and flexible forms of energy storage technologies continues to increase. At the time of writing, nearly all worldwide electricity storage capacity (especially large scale energy storage) is made up of pumped hydropower &#; the potential to generate vast loads in seconds makes it an extremely valuable storage resource. Pumped hydro storage was first used in Italy and Switzerland at the end of the 19th century.
Thermal energy storage also has a long history. Using solar power to heat water has been recorded as far back as one hundred years, although utility-scale thermal storage such as molten salt ESSs are a more recent invention, being first demonstrated in with the Solar Two project.
Just 6 years ago, only 0.34 GW of non-pumped hydro storage energy storage could be found worldwide. In , energy storage installations increased nearly 50% over , close to 6 GW of capacity. The bulk of this explosive growth is from battery energy storage systems (BESS) &#; specifically, lithium-ion BESS.
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The first utility-scale demonstration was a 5-MW/1.25-MWh BESS, commissioned for Portand General Electric (PGE) in October . It took just five short years for the first 100 MWh BESS to be commissioned, then completed, in South Australia to support the grid during summer&#;s peak demands.
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One of the most famous inventions designed to store electricity, the battery, dates back to . Italian physicist Andrew Volta used a pile of nickel discs, zinc disks and saltwater-soaked pads to deliver electrical current. Some 60 years later, French physicist Gaston Planté invented a rechargeable battery using lead and sulphuric acid&#;known as a lead-acid battery.
Then, in the early 19th century, American inventor Thomas Edison created a different type of rechargeable battery, which used nickel and iron. Canadian chemical engineer Lewis Urry later developed the prototype for the modern alkaline battery in , after researching Edison&#;s use of zinc.
Two other long-used forms of energy storage are pumped hydro storage and thermal energy storage. Pumped hydro storage, which is a type of hydroelectric energy storage, was used as early as in Italy and Switzerland before spreading around the world.
Thermal energy storage, or TES, was in use in ice boxes designed for food preservation in the early 19th century. Modern TES systems have helped heat and cool buildings since the early 20th century.
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