Solar plus storage virtuous cycle seeks 728 GWh gas replacement opportunity

NREL research projects that as solar power breaks 10% and 25% penetration levels across the United States, energy storage has an up to ~144 GW / 728 GWh opportunity to replace 261 GW of gas peakers. We write about gas and peakers vs solar and storage a lot here – first talking about how they can absolutely compete, then how states are forsaking gas and coal, afterwards how solar+storage is the peaker, and then we dream about the solar+storage 24 hour power plant. Specifically, the peaker market is an important segment offering many gigawatts of opportunities, enough to allow for the significant scaling that can allow solar to move into many terawatts deployed. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a paper, The Potential for Battery Energy Storage to Provide Peaking Capacity in the United States(pdf), which shows the potential for energy storage to replace gas peakers without wind and solar, and then how the volume actually increases as solar penetration goes beyond a 10% market share and reshapes the electricity demand curves.