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Can energy storage make money?

Energy storage can make money right now. Finding the opportunities requires digging into real-world data. Energy storage is a favorite technology of the future—for good reasons. What is energy storage? Energy storage absorbs and then releases power so it can be generated at one time and used at another.

What are the benefits of energy storage?

There are four major benefits to energy storage. First, it can be used to smooth the flow of power, which can increase or decrease in unpredictable ways. Second, storage can be integrated into electricity systems so that if a main source of power fails, it provides a backup service, improving reliability.

How does energy storage work?

Energy storage can be used to lower peak consumption (the highest amount of power a customer draws from the grid), thus reducing the amount customers pay for demand charges. Our model calculates that in North America, the break-even point for most customers paying a demand charge is about $9 per kilowatt.

Why do companies invest in energy-storage devices?

Historically, companies, grid operators, independent power providers, and utilities have invested in energy-storage devices to provide a specific benefit, either for themselves or for the grid. As storage costs fall, ownership will broaden and many new business models will emerge.

Are energy storage products more profitable?

The model found that one company’s products were more economic than the other’s in 86 percent of the sites because of the product’s ability to charge and discharge more quickly, with an average increased profitability of almost $25 per kilowatt-hour of energy storage installed per year.

Is it profitable to provide energy-storage solutions to commercial customers?

The model shows that it is already profitable to provide energy-storage solutions to a subset of commercial customers in each of the four most important applications—demand-charge management, grid-scale renewable power, small-scale solar-plus storage, and frequency regulation.