Energy Storage Technologies

This chapter covers the current technologies used for energy storage. The most common form and vast majority of energy storage in use today is pumped hydroelectricity. An interesting and relatively new method of storing electrical energy is in a superconducting coil. A conventional hydroelectric dam and lake like the Hoover Dam and Lake Meade can be considered a long-term energy storage system. Compressed air energy storage stores energy produced at one time for use at another. A flywheel energy storage power system uses mechanical inertia to store energy. Power-to-gas energy storage is a less common, but potentially very viable energy storage technology. Power-to-ammonia is an interesting energy storage technology that has the potential to be used for non-carbon, large-scale energy storage. Thermal energy storage systems use molten salts to store thermal energy from the sun or energy that is produced from excess electricity generated from renewable sources.