According to an article in the Houston Chronicle (LINK), Texas is adopting large-scale battery storage as battery prices fall, technology improves, and electricity demand grows. Now in the starting point, the amount of storage on the state’s power grid is still small at just 100 megawatts in a system with a generating capacity of nearly 80,000 megawatts. However, Texas is expected to more than triple the capacity to about 360 megawatts in 2020 and grow even faster in the coming years. Also, they are considering proposals to develop some 7,200 megawatts of large-scale battery storage within the next five years or so, exceeding the amount of natural gas generation in the pipeline.
According to the article, the growth of battery storage has boosted by falling prices for batteries. The price for lithium-ion batteries for electricity storage fell 35 percent to $187 per megawatt-hour in March compared to the first half of 2018 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance). By 2024, the costs for installing battery storage may fall to a point low enough for batteries to undercut natural gas-fired power plants during peak hours.
Background on power grid battery energy storage:
Clean Energy Solutions Center This webinar introduces key concepts for understanding the value of battery energy storage systems; reviews the services they can provide to the grid; and explores when, where, why and how they can be deployed economically.
