If we were kids growing up way back then, the chances were the old folk kept a cow in the yard for dairy, and sold the surplus milk to neighbors. Nowadays, our milk is in a recyclable container on a supermarket shelf instead. And BESS is no longer a friendly cow either. Because that word stands for battery energy storage systems, and they are becoming quite essential.
More About BESS Battery Energy Storage Systems
We critically need more storage for wind and solar energy, if we are to back away from global warming and its dread consequences. Batteries in one form or another are the only practical, readily available solution of which we know. Although they, too come with environmental consequences.
Within that stable, BESS systems are most likely to comprise lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries. This is because they offer an attractive combination of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, according to Siemens Energy. But when we view the concept in a broader sense, we realize battery energy storage systems could comprise any related technology.
So we could for example imagine a hydro power station delivering base load energy every night. Plus a BESS system on that same site, smoothing peaks in demand through to morning when the sun rose in the sky. Imagine if we added wind to the mix, and eventually became a carbon-free electricity generation
Battery Energy Storage Systems Score Highly
BESS systems have potential to put peaking gas stations out of business! That’s because of their enhanced flexibility, scalability, and efficiency too coupled with lower costs.
Moreover, they could co-exist with almost any energy source, from conventional thermal to wind generators on a ship far out to sea. We could even have a battery energy storage system in our backyard, and make money as our ancestors did with their brown cow!
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What Happens Inside Lithium-Ion Batteries
