A:
Energy storage is needed on an industrial or grid scale for three main reasons. The first is to “balance load” – to shift energy consumption into the future, often by several hours – so that more existing generating capacity is used efficiently. The second reason is to “bridge” power – in other words, to ensure there is no break in service during the seconds-to-minutes required to switch from one power generation source to another. Finally, power quality management – the control of voltage and frequency to avoid damaging sensitive equipment – is an increasing concern that storage can alleviate whenever needed, for a few seconds or less, many times each day.
