Rapid growth of intermittent renewable power generation makes the identification of investment opportunities in energy storage and the establishment of their profitability indispensable. Here we first present.
Is energy storage a profitable business model?
Although academic analysis finds that business models for energy storage are largely unprofitable, annual deployment of storage capacity is globally on the rise (IEA, 2020). One reason may be generous subsidy support and non-financial drivers like a first-mover advantage (Wood Mackenzie, 2019).
How would a storage facility exploit differences in power prices?
In application (8), the owner of a storage facility would seize the opportunity to exploit differences in power prices by selling electricity when prices are high and buying energy when prices are low.
How can energy storage be profitable?
Where a profitable application of energy storage requires saving of costs or deferral of investments, direct mechanisms, such as subsidies and rebates, will be effective. For applications dependent on price arbitrage, the existence and access to variable market prices are essential.
While energy storage is already being deployed to support grids across major power markets, new McKinsey analysis suggests investors often underestimate the value of energy storage in their business cases.
How do I evaluate potential revenue streams from energy storage assets?
Evaluating potential revenue streams from flexible assets, such as energy storage systems, is not simple. Investors need to consider the various value pools available to a storage asset, including wholesale, grid services, and capacity markets, as well as the inherent volatility of the prices of each (see sidebar, “Glossary”).
Are rooftop solar panels a profitable investment?
Many have studied the profitability of specific investment opportunities, such as the use of lithium-ion batteries for residential consumers to increase the utilization of electricity generated by their rooftop solar panels (Hoppmann et al., 2014; Stephan et al., 2016; van der Stelt et al., 2018).