Study: Additional 8.5 GW of energy storage could save Illinois electricity customers $3 billion
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Building 8.5 GW of energy storage in Illinois could save the state’s electricity customers $3 billion between 2030 and 2049, primarily by reducing wholesale prices, according to a study published on Monday.
The storage capacity, which would cost about $25 billion, would also provide benefits of $7.3 billion from reducing power outages and up to $4.9 billion from reducing air pollution, estimated the Power Bureau, a consulting firm that authored the study.
The study was conducted for the American Clean Power Association, the Coalition for Community Solar Access, the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Clean Grid Alliance.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of energy storage legislation currently pending in the Illinois General Assembly. HB5856 And SB3959Among other things, the bills would direct the Illinois Power Agency to conduct competitive bidding for the purchase of energy storage certificates and require utilities to set rates for virtual power plants.
According to the study, the legislation calls for the purchase of 7.5 GW of utility-scale storage and 1 GW of distributed storage. However, to ensure grid reliability in Illinois, 15 GW of storage capacity may be needed, the study said.
Building 15 gigawatts of storage between 2030 and 2049 would cost about $46 billion, but would provide consumers with net savings of about $2.4 billion over that period, primarily through lower capacity prices, the study says.
The study was prepared for the American Clean Power Association, the Coalition for Community Solar Access, the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Clean Grid Alliance.
“The accelerated retirement of fossil-fueled power plants, the delays in the deployment of renewable energy sources, and the exceptionally long lead times in deploying regional transmission solutions lead to the conclusion that deploying energy storage resources in Illinois is the approach to ensure the reliability of the Illinois power grid,” Mark Pruitt, the study’s author and former director of the Illinois Power Agency, said this in the report.
Under the state of Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, power plants with a capacity of more than 25 MW must eliminate their greenhouse gas and other emissions by 2045 or cease operations. At the same time, electricity demand in Illinois appears to be increasing, according to the study.
Depending on the pace of renewable energy expansion and the growth of electricity demand, Illinois could face a deficit of 2.4 to 4.2 GW as early as 2030, according to the analysis. Under a “business as usual” scenario, the state could face a deficit of 2.2 GW as early as 2031, according to the study.
“Energy storage may be one of the few ways for Illinois to maintain high system reliability at a reasonable cost to consumers,” Pruitt said.
