How can energy storage be profitable?

Where a profitable application of energy storage requires saving of costs or deferral of investments, direct mechanisms, such as subsidies and rebates, will be effective. For applications dependent on price arbitrage, the existence and access to variable market prices are essential.

Is energy storage a profitable business model?

Although academic analysis finds that business models for energy storage are largely unprofitable, annual deployment of storage capacity is globally on the rise (IEA, 2020). One reason may be generous subsidy support and non-financial drivers like a first-mover advantage (Wood Mackenzie, 2019).

How do business models of energy storage work?

Building upon both strands of work, we propose to characterize business models of energy storage as the combination of an application of storage with the revenue stream earned from the operation and the market role of the investor.

Are electricity storage technologies a viable investment option?

Although electricity storage technologies could provide useful flexibility to modern power systems with substantial shares of power generation from intermittent renewables, investment opportunities and their profitability have remained ambiguous.

Which technologies convert electrical energy to storable energy?

These technologies convert electrical energy to various forms of storable energy. For mechanical storage, we focus on flywheels, pumped hydro, and compressed air energy storage (CAES). Thermal storage refers to molten salt technology. Chemical storage technologies include supercapacitors, batteries, and hydrogen.

What are the potential applications of storage technologies?

Others have reviewed the range of potential applications of storage technologies, that is, the services that storage facilities can perform in power systems (Koohi-Kamali et al., 2013; Kousksou et al., 2014; Palizban and Kauhaniemi, 2016).