Floating Battery Storage System: A Solution for Balancing Between the Flexibility of Power Generation and Mitigating Ecological Impacts of Hydropower Plants

Climate change effects on the biodiversity and ecosystem can be devastating unless anthropogenic CO۲ emissions are reduced by ۵۰% until ۲۰۳۰. Renewable energy expansion in the globe is one of pursuing objectives to trade-off between making energy transition faster and mitigating the climate change consequences. Although among the renewable energy generation (REG) technologies, solar power has taken the lead position, hydropower is the dominant technology from the global cumulative capacity aspect due to its well-established history of installation. But hydropower plants modify the surrounding ecosystems, especially local ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to find a solution to balance hydropower installations and reduction of environmental and ecological impacts. This study proposes a novel and unique application of the battery storage system on the body of water which can be located behind the hydropower dam, that is floating battery storage system (FBSS). The paper utilizes the SWOT analysis technique for the combination of FBSS and hydropower plants as a solution to demonstrate which environmental, ecological and economical targets are met and which ones are remaining by it.

Keywords:

Floating Battery Storage System , Energy Storage , Hydropower , Hydropower Reservoir , Ecosystem and biodiversity , Power Generation