Energy Storage as Virtual Transmission and Grid Booster

Today power transmission companies are looking for alternates for power transmission which brings them into the area of alternate energy storage technology. Energy storage is placed along a transmission line and operated to inject or absorb power, cloning the power lines. word virtual transmission is most famous in Australia whereas Grid booster is trending in Germany.

credit-T&D world

Increasing adoption of energy storage systems enhances the resilience of the electrical grid. Energy storage system could be battery storage, pumped storage hydroelectricity, thermal energy storage, compressed air energy storage, flywheel energy storage. this facility provides multiple advantages as compared to traditional transmission such as HVDC, which includes faster deployment, smaller footprint, relocatability and also they offer additional services such as frequency and voltage control, reactive power, and special protection schemes.

initially ongoing projects includes:

• RTE, a french utility company, 40MW virtual transmission line project named as RINGO this project involves the integration of Renewable Energy to Grid.
• 1.3 GW of energy storage to achieve grid stability and lower network cost in Germany.
• Publicly owned utility company in India, Andhra Pradesh adding energy storage of capacity 250MW to 500MW to its transmission lines.
• In the US, Pacific Gas and Electric is adding a 10MW energy storage project to its transmission lines.

a lot hope is there from energy storage market to support the transmission network and grow in the coming years.