On-grid batteries for large-scale energy storage: Challenges and opportunities for policy and technology

We offer a cross section of the numerous challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of large-scale battery storage of renewable energy for the electric grid. These challenges range beyond scientific and technical issues, to policy issues, and even social challenges associated with the transition to a more sustainable energy landscape. The commissioning on 1 December 2017 of the Tesla-Neoen 100 MW lithium-ion grid support battery at Neoen's Hornsdale wind farm in South Australia, at the time the world's largest, has focused the attention of policy makers and energy professionals on the broader prospects for renewable energy storage. An adequate and resilient infrastructure for large-scale grid scale and grid-edge renewable energy storage for electricity production and delivery, either localized or distributed, is a crucial requirement for transitioning to complete reliance on environmentally protective human energy systems. Its realization will require a strong synergy between technological advances in variable renewable energy storage and the governance policies that promote and support them. We examine how existing regulations and governance policies focusing on large-scale batteries have responded to this challenge around the world. We offer suggestions for potential regulatory and governance reform to encourage investment in large-scale battery storage infrastructure for renewable energy, enhance the strengths, and mitigate risks and weaknesses of battery systems, including facilitating the development of alternatives such as hybrid systems and eventually the uptake of hydrogen fuel and storage.