ERA Energy Research Accelerator

Medium-Duration Energy Storage Event
2020-03-23
Medium-Duration Energy Storage in the Net-Zero UKIn the future, energy storage and the storage of energy services will be one of the main mechanisms by which the mismatch between resource availability and service demand is resolved.
The importance of Medium Duration Energy StorageAs the UK transitions to a sustainable future in which the net emission of CO2 is driven to zero, it is inevitable that solar power and offshore wind power will deliver large fractions of the total energy requirement. In this future, energy storage and the storage of energy services will be one of the main mechanisms by which the mismatch between resource availability and service demand is resolved.
Different technology sets are appropriate for addressing different storage durations. Supercapacitors and flywheels dominate the very short discharge durations. Batteries and demand-side response combine to provide very effective solutions for discharge durations up to 2-3 hours.
Fuels of different sorts such as hydrogen, ammonia, bio-ethanol, bio-methane etc. deliver very attractive options for long-durations where energy may be stored for years and discharged over periods of months. A fundamental, and still unresolved, question is whether there is a role for storage technologies which are suited to discharge durations between 3-4 hours and ~100-200 hours.
Sponsored by The Energy Research Accelerator and by Supergen Energy Storage Network+, this unique event, which took place online on Monday 16th March aimed to address that question head-on.
Event ProgrammeSession 1
Seamus Garvey Neville Rieger Professor of Dynamics, University of NottinghamMedium-Duration Energy Storage explained
Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith FRS, Professor and Director of Energy Research at the University of Oxford.The need for Energy Storage in a Net Zero World.
Goran Strbac, Professor of Energy Systems at Imperial College.What energy systems modelling indicates that we need in terms of energy storage.
Henrik Stiesdal, Former CTO Siemens WindpowerEnergy storage for high penetrations of offshore wind: needs and solutions.
Session 2
Toby Peters, Professor of Cold Economy, University of Birmingham.Storage of coolth (coldness) as a means of introducing flexibility into the electricity grid.
Angelos Chatzidiakos, Ramboll, UK.Pit Thermal Energy Storage, Experience and working systems.
Seamus Garvey, Neville Rieger Professor of Dynamics,University of Nottingham. Technologies for energy storage especially suited to the integration of high penetrations of offshore wind.
Session 3
Gareth Brett, CTO of Highview Power Ltd.Experiences in designing and operating liquid air energy storage.
Simon Branch, CEO of Innovatium LLP.Exploiting liquid air to transform industrial air compression into a service delivering medium-duration energy service storage.
Session 4
Haisheng Chen, Professor of Propulsion and Power at the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.Research Progress of Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage in China.
Ziping Feng, Professor at Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou.How ice slurry technology can unlock the electrification of winter heating in Northern Europe.

Grid Inertia
2020-02-24 | University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
What are the current perceptions and direction of travel around Grid Inertia?This is the summary of an event which took place the the University of Nottingham on 24th February on the subject of Grid Inertia.
Grid Inertia – current perceptions and direction of travelGrid inertia is a form of energy storage which addresses imbalances between supply and demand on electricity grids over very short time periods, typically on the order of fractions of a second to several of seconds. This is a summary of an event which took place at the University of Nottingham on 24th February.
Until now grid inertia has been provided by fossil fuel power plants as an unintended consequence of operating large synchronous machines stiffly connected to both the grid and large spinning masses (turbines). It is the kinetic energy of the turbine that may be passively adjusted, albeit momentarily, to account for short term supply/demand imbalances.
These sources of grid inertia will clearly be lost however as grids are decarbonised, leading to legitimate concerns over how future grids will operate. The field of grid inertia replacement is dynamic and rapidly developing, with many potential technological solutions, market designs, and mitigation strategies being proposed by a range of players.
Grid Inertia: Current Perceptions and Directions of Travel looks to invite this diverse international audience to discuss the wide spectrum of reactions and approaches, with a view to starting the conversation on grid inertia. The day will comprise of a series of talks from both industry and academia, culminating in a panel discussion. Talks will discuss emerging technologies as well as developing market place models through presentations from EPRI, the National Grid, EDF, and others.
The event took place at the University of Nottingham on 24th February, and was supported by the EPSRC funded Supergen programme and the Energy Research Accelerator (ERA).
Event Presentations9:10 – 9:40, Grid Inertia – Fundamental concepts and the developing marketplace, Adrian Kelly – EPRI
9:40 – 10:10, What have synchronous generators ever done for us? Guarang Vakil – UoN
10:10 – 10:40, Generator Stability Study for High ROCOF Events in a Low Inertia Grid, Martin Aten – UNIPER Talk 3 – UNIPER – Generator Stability Study for High ROCOF Events in a Low Inertia Grid
11:00 – 11:30, A generators perspective of grid inertia, Alastair Davies – EDF
11:30 – 12:00, The profile of grid inertia thus far and expected profile into the future , Ben Gomersall – National Grid
12:00 – 12:30, The DS3 approach: how Ireland is achieving high NSSP, Tony McGuinness and Marios Zarafakis – ESB
13:30 – 14:00, Inertia in energy storage. SynchoStore, Win Rampen – University of Edinburgh
14:00 – 14:30, Gyrotricity – a cost effective flywheel solution for supply of inertia, Keith Pullen – City University of London/Director of Gyrotricity
14:30 – 15:00, Real, partially-real and synthetic inertia. , Adam Hoskin – UoN
15:15 – 15:45, Grid-forming converters and what they do. Mark Sumner – UoN
15:45 – 16:15, Project Phoenix, Campbell Booth
As large amounts of renewable energy generation are introduced to electrical grids and fossil-fuelled plants close down, the energy system loses the short-term storage provided by the huge spinning rotors of the power stations. Want more information?For more information about this event, or if you are a company and would like to discuss ideas related to this topic, please contact Professor Seamus Garvey at the University of Nottingham.
Email: Seamus.Garvey@nottingham.ac.uk
An enhanced flywheel system would be much cheaper than a battery based equivalent. It turns out after all that some new problems have some excellent old solutions.
Professor Seamus Garvey, University of Nottingham
