Economic conditions for the provision of a seasonal energy storage service in the UK

The provision of a seasonal energy storage service in Great Britain has been identified as a priority for creating a viable environment for the deployment of long-duration energy storage technologies. Many prominent technologies are well positioned to deliver such a service but there has been minimal research conducted into how to ensure that this is economically viable. This first-of-its-kind study analyses how a seasonal energy storage service could be structured, and the effect of different economic parameters on the viability of different technologies being deployed to deliver it. It is shown that of the most prominent storage technologies, Compressed Air Energy Storage, Gravity Energy Storage and Pumped Hydro Storage are the best positioned for delivering a seasonal energy storage service within current techno-economic parameters. For a 3- month storage period, the lowest service fee determined for viable economic performance is £1,350/MWh for a Compressed Air system whilst for a 1-month storage period both Pumped Hydro and Compressed Air systems would require a service fee below £500/MWh.