Renewables and batteries, a natural combination

The idea of making the electricity grid run entirely on renewable sources has so far been faced with one fundamental hurdle: the erratic and intermittent availability of natural resources to generate electricity. In order for the power grid to work properly, the exact balance between energy input and output must be guaranteed at all times. Storage systems are the easiest solution, and Enel Green Power has been working on this technology for several years. This has led to the construction of several storage plants, like the Azure Sky facility in the United States: a wind farm with one of the largest batteries in the world. With technologies that have been available for decades now, generators and network operators have responded to moments of peak demand by turning on or increasing the energy production of thermoelectric plants powered by fossil fuels. These plants, in addition to producing significant climate-changing emissions, are also complex and expensive to build and operate during the hours when they are called upon to generate large amounts of energy, and they are gradually being abandoned in favor of those that opt for renewables. Even though they are being used less and less, their role hasn’t been easily replaced yet, because solar and wind power can only be generated when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. The reliability of renewables Over the past few years, the technological innovations applied to production and global supply processes have been largely driven by the mass adoption of electric vehicles. Thanks to these advances, lithium batteries have become available at competitive prices, making it possible to store energy in renewable plants. Installing battery energy storage systems (or BESS) in renewable plants makes it possible to store the electricity produced so it is available for later use, allowing the grid to function even without thermoelectric power plants. This solution is destined to provide a definitive answer to those who continue to doubt the reliability of renewables and the possibility of having electrical systems that are 100% green. If we want to fight the effects of climate change and avoid their environmental, social and economic repercussions, then it won’t be enough to settle for net zero and eliminate the net emissions (both direct and indirect) from the production chain. Enel Green Power will try to do more: our goal is to reach real zero emissions in all activities related to producing and selling energy without having to compensate for all the sources of heavier emissions. In this process of innovation, electrification plays a key role, making it possible to transform power plants and support the process of progressively abandoning fossil fuels. With this in mind, Enel Green Power has taken a concrete step by completing the first large-scale hybrid wind project in the world. Azure Sky: a hybrid wind-storage farm The new Azure Sky wind + storage facility in Throckmorton county in Texas can provide 350 MW of wind power and 205 MWh of energy storage capacity. It is truly a virtuous example and source of inspiration: its construction was completed in just sixteen months, and it will soon be able to generate enough energy to meet the needs of 118,000 American families, cutting 842,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year and providing a valuable contribution to the need for flexible and reliable energy in Texas. Moreover, the battery in the wind farm is one of the top ten BESS in the world in terms of installed capacity according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. By 2023, Enel will manage a portfolio in Texas of thirteen battery storage systems combined with solar and wind farms, capable of storing over 2 GWh of energy. A clear commitment to the energy transition is also evident in the US government’s recent policy choices: on August 16, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant piece of legislation in the fight against climate change in the US so far. Among other things, this legislation defines federal policy with regards to supporting renewable energy and the green economy for the next decade. It also introduces the first tax credit for all storage systems, allowing substantial cost reductions for hybrid plants like Azure Sky, where the wind farm has become an important source of energy storage for those times when there is a spike in demand. This will accelerate projects that contribute to the grid’s resilience, lower energy costs, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. All of these elements are essential to the energy transition and to achieving the goal of abandoning production processes that generate harmful emissions.

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Renewables and batteries, a natural combination

Renewables and batteries, a natural combination

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