Energy Storage · 8 min read · Energy Atlas Editorial

Why Energy Storage Matters

Electricity is consumed as it is made unless something stores it. Storage technologies differ by duration and efficiency.

storage

Fuels are storage. Reservoirs are storage. Batteries are storage. Hydrogen can be storage. Each has a round-trip efficiency, a capital cost, and a suitable duration. A grid can mix them rather than pick one winner.

Keep reading

Articles

Batteries on the Grid

Lithium-ion batteries provide fast, short-duration storage. They are not a universal substitute for generation.

6 min read

Pumped-Storage Hydropower

Two reservoirs and a reversible plant make the largest form of grid electricity storage in many countries.

7 min read

Questions

Why can’t electricity simply be stored everywhere?

Electricity is a flow. Storing it means converting it into another form and back, with losses and cost.

What is the current progress in energy storage technologies?

Pumped hydro remains the bulk energy store. Lithium-ion grew fastest for short duration. Long duration is still the open problem.

Glossary

Pumped storage

Hydroelectric energy storage using two reservoirs.