On February 16th, 2012, Pike Research LLC (Boulder, Colorado, U.S.) released a new report stating that the growing need to integrate intermittent renewable sources of energy, particularly solar and wind power, into the power grid will help drive significant growth in energy storage systems (ESS) for ancillary services over the next decade.

According to Pike Research’s "Energy Storage Systems for Ancillary Services" report, revenues from ESS for ancillary services applications will rise from USD 412 million in 2011 to more than USD 3.2 billion by 2021.


Vast potential market for ancillary services

“Highly responsive, flexible technologies will perform better than slower or niche technologies, unless these can reach a threshold of market penetration to counter their disadvantages,” Research Analyst Anissa Dehamna said.

“That said, the potential market for ancillary services is vast and will continue to grow as global generation capacity increases, as a result of both new electrification and capacity additions to existing networks, and increased instability resulting from renewables integration.”


Flywheels, pumped storage, compressed air energy storage, and battery technologies

"In the initial adoption period, the ESS for ancillary services market will be limited to regions with suitable market structures, primarily deregulated electricity markets. The key regions will be North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, particularly for frequency regulation, load following, spinning reserves, and short-duration renewables integration," Dehamna added.

The primary technologies for the ancillary services include flywheels, pumped storage, compressed air energy storage, and battery technologies such as lithium ion, sodium sulfur, and advanced lead-acid batteries, Dehamna noted.

The report provides an in-depth examination of the market potential for ESS for ancillary services including an analysis of legislation, financing, and market structures that will shape the sector as it develops in the coming decade. The study includes an assessment of technology issues, key application areas, and profiles and SWOT analysis of the principal market players in each segment. Global market forecasts, segmented by world region, application, and technology, are provided through 2021.

2012-02-22| Courtesy: Pike Research | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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