Impact of Battery Storage Adoption on Electricity Generation

In an API study done by OnLocation using the NEMS-REStorePlus model, it was found that the adoption of battery storage to enable greater renewables development will be slower than anticipated, even if battery prices drop and higher natural gas prices incentivize their use. The study also found that electricity prices, residential electricity and total energy expenditures were not measurably impacted by further penetration of battery storage – meaning that subsidized battery storage will likely not bring down costs for consumers, and corroborating the fact that natural gas is the natural baseload partner to renewable energy sources.

The report analyzed a set of scenarios, targeting costs for grid storage and natural gas resource availability as the variables. The low-cost, low-resource case of the study, in which battery costs plunged by 40 percent and natural gas prices shot up to average over six dollars per mmBtu in 2050, found there would only be 47 GW of battery storage capacity adopted over the study period. This scenario showed the highest amount of battery storage capacity, with battery adoption accelerating significantly more than in other scenarios after 2030.

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Exploring the Implications of Electricity Storage on Natural Gas Consumption

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