The rapid increase in the share of electricity generation from renewable energy sources is having a profound impact on the power sector; one of the most relevant effects of this trend is the increased importance of energy storage systems, which can be used to smooth out peaks and troughs of production from renewable energy sources.\ud
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Besides their role in balancing the electric grid, energy storage systems may provide also several other useful services, such as price arbitrage, stabilizing conventional generation, etc.; therefore, it is not surprising that many research projects are under way in order to explore the potentials of new technologies for electric energy storage.\ud
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This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of a cryogenic energy storage system, based on air liquefaction and storage in an insulated vessel. This technology is attractive thanks to its independence from geographical constraints and because it can be scaled up easily to grid-scale ratings, but it is affected by a low round-trip efficiency due to the energy intensive process of air liquefaction. The present work aims to assess the efficiency of such a system and to identify if and how it can achieve an acceptable round-trip efficiency (in the order of 50–60%)
Electric vehicles are progressively emerging in the light-duty passenger market as a promising alternative to oil-dependent road transport in the attempt to reduce greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. However, it is necessary to investigate how a significant penetration of electric vehicles in the private transport fleet would affect the strategic planning of large scale energy systems.This study evaluates the integration of electric vehicles in the Italian energy scenario and their synergy with electricity generation from renewable energy sources, identifying the impact in terms of CO 2 emissions, costs and curtailments on a medium-long term perspective. The national energy system has been accurately characterized using currently available data and its operation simulated with the EnergyPLAN software through an integrated analysis method. Possible energy scenarios have been defined with increasing shares of electric vehicles and intermittent renewable energy sources.Results assess the impact of electric vehicles in cutting private transport carbon emissions and the positive interaction with increasing levels of renewables under different vehicle charging strategies and the capability of electric vehicles to behave as an electricity storage system.
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