Wind energy - energy storage |
Energy Storage System One of the most serious problems of the Hungarian energy system is that the demand by night is below the production of the basic power plants. An other big problem is the satisfaction of the daily peak demands while assuring enough safety reserve. The intermittent nature of the wind – and with it the utilisation of the wind energy - presents a problem in respect of the system stability. 1. Figure. Characteristic daily load curve for a summer deay (2006.) The construction of equalizer energy storage plants renders the increase of the utilisation of the wind energy possible, promotes the uninterrupted operation of the windfarms as it serves as a „buffer” between the windfarms utilising the intermittent wind energy and the Grid Operator prescribing precise conditions and schedule in the trade agreements. With the application of energy storage systems the parameters and the production characteristics of the wind turbines represent a competitive alternative to the „basic”- and peak power plants and render possible that the energy produced with the utilisation of the wind energy be transportable in accordance with a schedule as it is the case with the energy of the conventional power plants. The construction of the grid connection of the wind turbines is expensive and raises in certain cases the question of the development of the grid. The construction of energy storage systems assists the optimalisation of the costs related to the grid development as because of its function it holds off and equalizes the abrupt loads and renders the transport of the stored energy in case of peak demands possible. Already the construction of a small capacity energy storage system decreases the investment costs. With its construction the efficiency of the windfarm increases and decreases the financial risk related to the investment, and it makes the construction of the so called big capacities – which shall never be utilzed totally – avoidable. Connected to windfarms it renders the steady transport of the energy produced with the utilisation of the wind energy possible, increases its efficiency within electrical grid system, the ”in a row” operation of the windfarm. A big part of the planned windfarms can not be connected to the grid without its reinforcement. The reinforcement of the grid is expensive and can be realized only after several years` planning and construction. The construction of an energy storage system and its connection to the grid may handle this problem. Source: Gest.Com Kommunikációs és Tanácsadó Bt. (http://www.gestcom.hu/), Erik Groniewsky |