Inside containers like these sits enough capacity to bank huge amounts of solar and wind power for when we need it most. Photo: Shutterstock.
When you think of a battery, you likely envision something like the tiny, round, flat disc that powers your watch or car key fob. Or you may think of a gray rectangle the size of a credit card that powers your cell phone. What you probably don’t imagine are the grid-scale battery storage facilities that are so critical to our transition to clean energy.
These large batteries are very different from phone or coin batteries. If you visit a typical battery storage facility (for example, the Cross Town Energy Storage Project in Maine, which just opened this year), you might see rows of metal boxes about the size and shape of shipping containers.
Inside those containers sits enough capacity to bank huge amounts of solar and wind power for when we need it most. On a sunny or extremely windy day, a solar panel or wind turbine may generate more electricity than we need at that exact moment, but these large batteries hold that electricity in reserve for times when we do. That could be, for example, at night or during a heat wave or cold snap, when electricity prices are high due to low supply.
The energy stored in these large containers can be drawn on to power our homes, businesses, and much more. And the technology for these batteries is progressing fast. Costs have plunged, scale has exploded, and new chemistries are now competing with older lithium-ion batteries, offering a safer, longer lifespan. Long-duration battery storage development (i.e., holding power for more than a couple of days) is well underway and has significant potential.
One thing to bear in mind is that every battery, regardless of size or use, requires specific minerals in its construction. These minerals have to be mined – and that mining comes with environmental and labor concerns. As we develop battery storage technology, we must also stay aware of how we obtain the necessary minerals. We need regulations and mechanisms to create (and reuse) battery parts responsibly.
CLF is collaborating with communities, regulators, and developers to help bring this important technology to New England’s electricity grid. We want our grid to run on clean, affordable energy. We need the entity managing our electricity grid, ISO New England, to give battery storage a fair chance. And we’re working to ensure the communities where these batteries are located receive sufficient benefits to make up for hosting them – including new jobs and financial incentives. Batteries are critical to the clean energy transition, and CLF will continue to advocate for their well-regulated development.
