On the value of liquid-air and Pumped-Thermal Electricity Storage systems in low-carbon electricity systems
Author(s)
Georgiou, S
Aunedi, M
Strbac, G
Markides, CN
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We consider two medium-to-large scale thermomechanical electricity storage technologies currently under development, namely ‘Liquid-Air Energy Storage’ (LAES) and ‘Pumped-Thermal Electricity Storage’ (PTES). Consistent thermodynamic models and costing methods based on a unified methodology for the two systems from previous work are presented and used with the objective of integrating the characteristics of the technologies into a whole-electricity system assessment model and assessing their system-level value in various scenarios for system decarbonization. It is found that the value of storage depends on the cumulative installed capacity of storage in the system, with storage technologies providing greater marginal benefits at low penetrations. The system value of PTES was found to be slightly higher than that of LAES, driven by a higher storage duration and efficiency, although these results must be seen in light of the uncertainty in the (as yet, not demonstrated) performance of key PTES components, namely the reciprocating-piston compressors and expanders. At the same time, PTES was also found to have a higher power capital cost. The results indicate that the complexity of the decarbonization challenge makes it difficult to identify clearly a ‘best’ technology and suggest that the uptake of either technology can provide significant system-level benefits.
Date Issued
2020-02-15
Online Publication Date
2020-12-03T07:00:13Z
Date Acceptance
2019-12-01
ISSN
0360-5442
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Energy
Volume
193
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544219323758?via%3Dihub
Grant Number
NE/L002515/1
EP/J006041/1
EP/R045518/1
Subjects
0913 Mechanical Engineering
0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering
0914 Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy
Energy
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
116680
Date Publish Online
2019-12-03