An Assessment of Modern Energy Storage Technologies at Grid Level

As humanity pushes for a more sustainable future, we will have an increased dependence on renewable energies which can be unreliable sources of power. Therefore, along with an increase in renewable energy sources we must also grow our energy storage capacity to mitigate the risks posed by unreliable energy generation. The purpose of this report is to weigh the benefits and drawbacks associated with multiple promising technologies that could be key to humanity’s future. To compare each technology, they will be scoring each system based on multiple factors, then compiling the data into a decision matrix to concisely present the findings. First, a system’s efficiency, or the amount of power that is returned compared to the total invested. Second, the scalability of each technology, which would include what materials are needed for a certain system and how they are procured. Finally, the cost of a system must be considered. The five storage methods covered are Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), Pumped Hydropower Storage (PHS), Lithium-Ion Batteries, Thermal Energy Storage (TES), and Flywheels.