Post: Battery storage brings benefits for Ireland: report

Battery storage brings benefits for Ireland: report

Battery storage could deliver over €102M in savings for consumers in Ireland and Northern Ireland annually, according to a study by Energy Storage Ireland.

The report, prepared by AFRY, noted that energy storage lowers electricity system costs by storing renewable electricity when abundant and releasing it during higher demand periods. It found that 2GW of 6-8-hour storage would deliver maximum economic benefit in an early 2030s scenario. Ireland currently has just over 1GW of battery storage capacity but the report notes that additional storage could reduce wind and solar energy curtailment by 10% and cut power sector emissions by 11%.

Source: Energy Storage Ireland

When gas prices are high, the benefit of 2GW of additional storage is €50M higher than in the early 2030s scenario, delivering materially higher wholesale cost of demand benefits as the level of peak prices is materially elevated in a high gas price environment. Dispatch balancing cost benefits also increase, albeit they remain small in absolute terms. Turndown compensation benefits are broadly similar across the two scenarios. This is because turndown compensation is mainly driven by the amount of turndown (which changes little if the amount of storage added is the same) and support prices (which do not change much if gas prices rise). The direct support cost (dis)benefit is €15M smaller in magnitude when gas prices are high relative to the Early 2030s scenario. Although the increase in renewable generation enabled by additional storage is similar in both scenarios (and typically occurs during low-priced periods), higher wholesale power prices in a high gas price environment reduce the additional subsidies required for renewables. The societal emissions cost benefit is €18M lower in the Gas Sensitivity relative to the early 2030s scenario. This is fundamentally a result of fuel switching from natural gas to oil when gas prices rise significantly.