Last week, I had the opportunity to present at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm during the IEA Energy Storage Task 41 working group meeting.
My talk focused on the role of energy storage in green hydrogen- and ammonia projects, drawing from modeling work we carried out at Southern Lights. The presentation explored how storage sizing, operational strategies, and economic factors interact in ammonia production powered by intermittent renewable energy sources — and how storage can enable more economical operations in such projects.
About IEA Energy Storage Task 41
IEA Task 41: Economics of Energy Storage (EcoEneSto) aims to evaluate the economics of energy storage systems across all relevant applications in the energy system. The goal is to understand the value of storage, identify key performance indicators (KPIs), and define the technical and non-technical conditions that enable viable business cases.
The work covers all energy storage technologies — electrical, thermal, and chemical — and compares them to other flexibility measures and systems without storage. The task also assesses the influence of regulatory frameworks on potential business cases. Through coordinated case studies and methodological comparisons, Task 41 seeks to provide a foundation for developing robust business models for energy storage.
Key takeaways from my presentation
- Energy storage is growing rapidly in importance as the transition to renewable energy accelerates.
- Since storage can be deployed at multiple levels — from individual consumers to grid-scale infrastructure to energy producers — its economics is a critical field of R&D to keep the pace in energy transition.
- For power-to-X projects from intermittent renewables, correctly sizing storage is essential for stable operations and economic viability.
- Policy and regulatory frameworks can strongly influence the feasibility of storage projects and should be considered early in project design.
It was a pleasure to contribute our perspective to such an experienced group of experts and to exchange ideas on how storage can accelerate the deployment of sustainable ammonia production in a decarbonized energy system.
