LightSail Energy. Regenerative Air Energy Storage
914 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA, 94710 P: 510 268 9770. F: 510 268 9774
contact@lightsailenergy.com
Opportunity
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$13,700 Billion. $7,200 Billion for Generation, $2,000 Bilion for transmission, $4,500 Billion for distribution. The expected cost of electric infrastructure upgrades worldwide over the next two decades is almost $14 trillion. More than 30% of this investment serves a need that could be more economically met with energy storage at the right price.
The trillion dollar formula: Offpeak Energy + Energy Storage < Peakers + Grid Upgrades. If it were less expensive to store and deliver low-cost, off-peak energy on demand than it is to make more of it with conventional peaker plants, the energy landscape would change dramatically. Offpeak Energy: Efficient, economical environmental energy source. Energy storage: Near fluctuating demand to meet peaks. Peakers: Inefficient plants throttled to meet peak demand. Grid upgrades: Extra wires, transformers, etc. to supply peak power
The Cost of Wind Power Worldwide: 3 cents - 20 cents/kWh. Map. In much of the world, the lowest cost sources of energy are green. Yet since there is little capacity to store energy, green power is sold when available, instead of at the highest price.
A Hot Day in Texas. Electricity prices skyrocket during a hot day in Texas. What if wind or solar power could be stored cheaply and delivered when it's needed? More profit for the wind and solar farms, low cost energy for the users, greener energy for the world. Graph of electricity price vs time. Peak price 100x offpeak price.
Nearly half of the Electric Grid Capacity is Unused. Inefficient diesel and gas peaker plants supply electricity during the times of greatest demand. The grid resources (wires, transformers, etc.) required to transport this peak power are left underutilized during non-peak times. Low-cost storage can increase grid utilization without adding more wires. Graphic: Load duration curves for Midwest (65% usage), California (60% usage), Texas (59%), New York (59%). 60% average percentage of the US electric grid capacity used over the proportion of the year.
Power With Storage at the Point of Demand. Store energy near varying demand (end-users) or varying supply (wind.solar farms), and dispatch energy during the 'peak' periods of greatest electric demand, and green energy can replace before peakers and grid upgrades as the solution of choice for providing peak power. Graphic: Power with storage vs Power without storage for a large industrial food processor.
Lowest Cost Dispatachable Power. Our first product will be the first energy storage system that can economically outcompete diesel gensets - the fossil-based competitor to beat on islands and isolated grids. Our second product will be the first energy storage system to outcompete gas peaker plants. It will drive massive adoption of green energy worldwide. Graphic: Levelized cost of energy for dispatchable power sources: Batteries: 48 - 74 cents/kWh. Diesel Genset: 22-46 cents/kWh. Gas Peaker Plant: 12 - 36 cents/kWh. LSE v.1: 22-27 cents/kWh. LSE v.2: 15-20 cents/kWh. LSE Underground: 12-14 cents/kWh. Assumptions: Capacity factor = 20%. Cost of capital = 10%, inflation = 2.5% (+- 0.5%), energy inflation: 2.5% (+- 1%). Cost of offpeak electricity = $40/MWh, cost of natural gas = $7/MMBTu. Variance Analysis: Business model robust to variation: Capital cost, general inflation, energy inflation, gas price offpeak cost, peaker efficiency, roundtrip efficiency.