Energy Storage Technologies for High-Power Applications

Energy storage systems provide viable solutions for improving efficiency and power quality as well as reliability issues in dc/ac power systems including power grid with considerable penetrations of renewable energy. The storage systems are also essential for aircraft powertrains, shipboard power systems, electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles to meet the peak load economically and improve the system's reliability and efficiency. Significant development and research efforts have recently been made in high-power storage technologies such as supercapacitors, superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), and flywheels. These devices have a very high-power density and fast response time and are suitable for applications with rapid charge and discharge requirements. In this paper, the latest technological developments of these devices as well as advancements in the lithium-ion battery, the most power dense commercially available battery, are presented. Also, a comparative analysis of these high-power storage technologies in terms of power, energy, cost, life, and performance is carried out. This paper also presents the applications, advantages, and limitations of these technologies in a power grid and transportation system as well as critical and pulse loads.