Transportable Energy Storage (FRP)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Energy storage)
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Applied Mathematics)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
Systems Analysis related to energy R&D (Other Systems Analysis)
EA Technology Limited
Project Contact, Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Strathclyde
- Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) generated in the Sahara to be imported to the UK;
- Wind energy generated in the Outer Hebrides to be imported to the UK; and
- Wind energy generated in the Orkney Islands to be exported to Norway
Key findings of the study are:
- Electricity transmission represents the least cost solution if electrical energy is required at the demand site
- Chemical energy carriers do however compare favourably with electricity transmission where they can be used directly
In terms of the levelised costs per unit of energy delivered to the UK, the analysis demonstrates that electricity transmission represents the least cost solution if electrical energy is required at the demand site. This is true for all of the three generating site scenarios. For example, the cost associated with transferring electrical energy via a transmission network from the Outer Hebrides to the UK mainland is just over £70/MWh and fromthe Sahara £139/MWh compared to between £232/MWh and £281/MWh using chemical storage media.
The chemical energy carriers do however compare favourably with electricity transmission where they can be used directly. If energy can be supplied as a fuel rather than electricity, the case for the chemical energy storage media becomes economically viable. For example,hydrogen can be delivered to the UK from the Sahara at a cost of £124/MWh by ship or £120/MWh by pipeline, which is less than that for direct transmission (i.e. £139/MWh).
The results also indicate that using electro-chemical energy storage media (i.e. a Zinc-Air Battery ship concept) is unlikely to represent an economically viable concept. The overall costs are dominated by the cost of the batteries themselves. Even assuming an extremely ambitious cost target for a transportable battery the levelised cost per unit of electricity delivered is over six times that of the baseline transmission option.
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