The advent of technologies such as energy storage, small-scale embedded generation and smart grid solutions is set to fundamentally change South Africa’s electricity landscape, outgoing Eskom generation group executive Thava Govender said during an address to delegates at the SA Energy Storage conference.

“The challenge we face today is making this invisible product called electricity visible. Once visible, electricity can be better directed and optimised. Energy storage offers the means to make electricity visible.”

The recently released draft Integrated Resources Plan 2018 targets an electricity generation mix that comprises 20% renewables by 2030, thereby confirming that South Africa will continue to integrate intermittent and variable energy sources.

“Those 2030 visions increase the need for advanced grid management mechanisms and revised grid operating philosophies to ensure the South African grid is flexible, robust and reliable,” Govender said.

He added that energy storage provided a multitude of solutions to enable a smooth transition to grid modernisation, while providing utilities with capabilities such as load shifting, backup and reserve capacity.

Govender stated that energy storage should not be considered a form of energy generation, and that was probably the reason why the IRP had not quantified the requirement or mentioned the integration of energy storage, since it was instead a tool used to realise or optimise a particular form of electricity generation.

Moreover, he explained that there was immense value in battery storage. He said the African continent was rich in natural mineral resources that were used in the manufacture of batteries for energy storage.

“With Southern African Development Community countries possessing an abundance of vanadium, lithium and cobalt, it renders Africa a key player in the battery manufacturing industry globally.”

Unlocking that mineral potential could, however, only be realised through local and regional partnerships, as well as enabling and willing policymakers, Govender noted.

Eskom was expanding its stored energy focus to include beyond-the-meter value-added solutions development, which included solutions development in collaboration with the University of the Western Cape, to ultimately have the first super smart grid in Africa.

“The Fourth Industrial Revolution may bring us closer to realising a super smart grid in Africa. Advances such as energy storage, control systems, electric vehicles and microgrids all offer opportunities for South Africa’s energy future,” remarked Govender.

New technologies and business models were broadening the potential of disruptive generation. Storage compensated for the intermittency and volatility of renewable-energy sources, while platforms such as distributed resource aggregators provided the required flexibility for the system.

In terms of Eskom’s future, Govender pointed out that any successful future utility business model had to have, at its core, an electricity system that was smart, accessible, affordable and resilient to the growing external market forces.

“It should also have a diverse suite of value-added service offerings that place customers and the country at the forefront of its business.”

US-based Enel utility development VP Doug Staker, meanwhile, told delegates it was fitting for all countries to integrate energy storage into, ideally, a renewable-energy mix.

“We have until 2030 to mitigate climate change and keep temperature rises globally to a maximum of 1.5 ºC above preindustrial levels.

“Human-caused carbon dioxide emissions would need to decrease by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 to reach net zero by 2050,” he added, stating that this could only happen if energy systems were managed more efficiently and adapted to be cleaner.

Staker said energy storage was a new asset class and could not be classified under generation, transmission or distribution.

“The electricity industry is in a period of momentous change. The innovative potential of the digital economy has not yet been accommodated within the electricity distribution system.

“Information technology, electronic controls, distributed generation and energy storage are advancing faster than the ability of utilities and regulators to adopt them or to adapt to them,” highlighted Staker.

Simultaneously, he added, electricity demands of the digital economy were increasingly being expressed in terms of reliability, choice, value and security.