Within the framework of developing renewable energies, the creation of smart infrastructures and tools capable of storing electricity and then returning it to the electricity grid when it is experiencing high demand, constitutes a major challenge.
The use of second-life electric car batteries, batteries that can no longer be optimally used in a car, is one pathway to storing energy. Even after its first lifetime, the electric vehicle battery has sufficient capacity for stationary energy storage (75% of its initial capacity).
For individual households connected to photovoltaic panels, domestic stationary energy storage systems consisting of electric vehicle batteries allow for energy produced in the daytime – when the sun is shining and demand is low – to be stored. This low-carbon energy can then be reused at home when the grid is more in demand.
At a larger scale, projects like the Advanced Battery Storage System (ABS) are also contributing to the expansion of renewable energy’s share of overall electricity production, via the use of second-life batteries placed in shipping containers. The main challenge is to maintain a balance between the electricity supply and the demand for it, while using intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
ABS makes it possible to compensate for the differences between consumption and production by, at a given moment, reinjecting the energy previously stored in second-life batteries back into the grid. Thanks to this real-time balancing act, those systems contribute to the proper functioning of the electricity network.
Copyright : Renault Communication