Resource Hub

The Energy Storage Partnership Academy

getty images

The Energy Storage Academy (ESA) was designed as a space for knowledge-sharing and discussions among government officials from developing countries, energy storage experts, and World Bank staff through a series of virtual, high-level training sessions.  The ESP Academy’s mission was to provide a platform to share experiences on deploying energy storage, share ESP’s insights, and create an opportunity for participants interested in energy storage projects to learn from experts. The Academy delivered training sessions between October 2020 and June 2021. Each training delivered by ESA was unique and provided attendees with technical and practical knowledge on deploying energy storage solutions in developing countries.

The training sessions were delivered in ten modules:

MODULE 1 | Concessional Finance To Accelerate Energy Storage |October 21, 2020

Presentation | Recording

Climate finance has at least five principles to consider: demonstration of GHG reduction, additionality/incrementality, transformative impact/paradigm shifting technologies and approaches, large scale, and implementation readiness. In this context, four large climate finance programs are under operation. Under the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), there are the Clean Technology Funds (CTFs) in middle-income countries and Scaling-up the Renewable Energy Program (SREP) in low-income countries. Under the UNFCCC, there are two CIFs: the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The climate finance programs have different combinations of cost of capital, scale, risk appetite, and transaction costs.

SPEAKERS | Fernando de Sisternes, Senior Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Chandrasekar Govindaralaju, Lead Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Richard Baxter, President, Mustang Praire Energy.

MODULE 2 | Energy Storage Testbeds & Testing Protocols | November 9, 2020

Presentation | Recording

Current efforts are being deployed to establish a global network of energy storage testing platforms to accelerate the commercial deployment of pre/early-market energy storage technologies in developing countries and to improve renewable energy integration and energy access. To achieve this development objective, Energy Storage Testbeds are being proposed to address the significant and unique barriers facing developing nations in accessing the benefits of energy storage technologies.  A “Testbed” is a facility with capability to operate energy storage systems (ESS) with controllable and standardized system configurations, use cases, and operational and environmental conditions, allowing developing countries to assess energy storage performance under realistic local grid conditions at low cost and at manageable scale. ​This global “Network of Energy Storage Testbeds” (NESTs) is developed as an initiative of the Energy Storage Partnership (ESP) hosted by ESMAP. 

SPEAKERS: Fernando de Sisternes, Senior Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Sandra Laura Chávez, ESMAP; Nate Blair, Group Manager of Distributed Systems and Storage Analysis, NREL; Phillip Hannam, Energy Economist, World Bank Group; Drew Lebowitz, Energy Access Team Lead, DNV.

MODULE 3 | Solar PV + Storage Sizing App Tutorial | December 3, 2020

Presentation | Recording

The Storage Sizing App has the objective of providing a preliminary assessment of the energy storage sizing requirements (both in terms of energy and power), and the project cost of hybrid solar PV and energy storage systems, using energy storage for smoothing and shifting applications. ​For more detail about the smoothing applications (different countries, different step for 2 hours and 3 hours, different battery types) and about the shifting applications (default profile, square profile, and flat profile) see the Presentation and the Recording.

SPEAKERS: Fernando de Sisternes, Senior Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Sandra Laura Chávez, ESMAP.

MODULE 4 | Warranties for BESS in Developing Countries | January 12, 2021

Presentation 1 | Presentation 2 | Recording

Technologies, beyond Li-ion, have valuable attributes for grid applications in developing countries but their limited track record can hamper its widespread deployment. Warranties for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) provide mechanisms for buyers and investors to mitigate the technical and operational risks of battery projects, by transferring the risk of defects or performance issues to the manufacturer or the battery vendor. New battery technologies have valuable attributes that are well suited to the needs of developing countries. However, their limited track record can hamper its widespread deployment. Conditions found in some developing countries may present extra challenges as BESS need to operate in harsh climate conditions, remote locations with poor accessibility, limited internet access, low availability of skilled local workforce, and unreliable power supply. These conditions render the underlying need for flexible operation even more acute.

SPEAKERS: Fernando de Sisternes, Senior Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Sandra Laura Chávez, ESMAP; Sebastian Scholz, Product Lead Smart Energy/Energy Storage, Munich RE.

MODULE 5 | Reusing and Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries | February 1, 2021

Presentation 1 | Presentation 2 | Presentation 3 | Presentation 4 | Recording

A Circular Economy Approach to EV Batteries requires to analyze reuse and recycling measures. On the one hand, EV batteries recycling focuses on retrieval of minerals/metals for use in a wide range of contexts (power, IT, small tools, etc.) or as part of a country’s critical minerals/metals strategic supply.​ It is critical to ensure a new “ewaste” regime is developed for LiBESS in developing countries: from the “dumping ground” of developed countries to a sustainable platform for the EV battery recycling industry. On the other hand, EV batteries’ reuse and repurposing focuses on the “repackaging” of EV batteries from their 1st life as an EV power provider to a stationary energy storage system provider. If properly implemented, it has the potential to provide more economic and environmentally benign options, than new batteries, to meet clean energy goals.​ Nevertheless, there are current challenges with developing protocols as there are at least six different li-ion batteries in use.​

SPEAKERS: Tarek Keskes, Energy Specialist, ESMAP; John Drexhage, Climate Change and Sustainable Resource Development Consultant, Global Battery Alliance; Mathy Stanislaus, Public Policy Director, Global Battery Alliance; Eleni Kemene, Acting Project Lead Green Demand, World Economic Forum; Dario Quaranta, Senior Expert, World Bank Group; Surbhi Goayal, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank Group.

MODULE 6 | Deploying Storage for Power Systems in Developing Countries | February 11, 2021

Presentation | Recording

Energy storage is one of the “flexibility” tools in power systems. Its deployment is increasing rapidly (particularly for batteries), and this trend is bound to continue. Storage can make a substantial contribution towards cleaner and more resilient power systems, particularly well-suited to developing countries’ power system needs that often lack sources of flexibility. Therefore, as storage need is new in many systems, policy, market, and regulatory frameworks often lack storage-specific provisions. Policy makers and regulators need to establish robust remuneration mechanisms that accurately reflect its value to the system, and to remove non-economic barriers as a priority. For more information, the Energy Storage Partnership has published a Report on policy and regulatory considerations in developing countries.

SPEAKERS: Zuzana Dobrotkova, Senior Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Simon Muller, Director, Agora Energiwende.

MODULE 7 | Safe Operation Guidelines for Electrical Energy Storage Systems in Developing Countries | February 23, 2011

Presentation 1 |Presentation 2 | Recording

To provide a simplified common guide for safe operation of energy storage systems for developing countries, this module focuses on three main aspects. First, it discusses safety aspects and guidelines to consider throughout the entire project lifecycle including design, deployment, operation, and decommissioning​. Second, it references existing standards and guidelines where possible, including a summary of some existing gaps and updates underway. Third, it provides a summary of incidents and lessons learned. Moreover, a whole-project approach to safety should consider project development and planning; deployment and commissioning; operation, maintenance, and incident response; and decommissioning and end of life.

SPEAKERS: Chong Suk Song, Energy Specialist, ESMAP; Adam Tuck, Program Leader in Energy Storage for Grid Security and Modernization, NCRC; Yu-Tack Kim, Korea Battery Industry Association (KBIA).

MODULE 8 | BESS Procurement Reference Document |April 6, 2021

Presentation 1 | Presentation 2 | Presentation 3 | Recording

The objective of the BESS Procurement Reference Document is to provide general guidelines and recommendations for the procurement of a BESS in different environments, and recommendations for BESS procurement based on operations experience​. This document provides guidance on BESS technical specifications guidelines; evaluation and qualification template; requirements check lists; and employer’s requirements template. ​It also provides additional information on the six BESS life cycle phases as specified in the BESS procurement reference document: design and planning, tendering and procurement, manufacturing, installation and commissioning, operation, and end-of-life decommissioning.

SPEAKERS: Manuel José Millan, and Frederic Verdol, Senior Energy Specialists, World Bank.

MODULE 9 | Flexible Sector Coupling – Concept | April 19, 2021

Presentation 1 | Presentation 2 | Recording

An energy storage system can take up energy and deliver it at a later point in time. The storage process itself consists of three stages: The charging, the storage and the discharging. Once discharged, the storage can be charged again.​ ​Moreover, the technical and economical requirements for an energy storage system are determined by its actual application within the energy system. Therefore, any evaluation and comparison of energy storage technologies is only possible with respect to this application.​ The application determines the technical requirements (such as type of energy, storage capacity, charging/discharging power), as well as the economic environment (such as expected pay-back time, price for delivered energy). Each storage technology has its own type of storage impacting on its potential applications. For instance, electrical energy storage can be stored as mechanical energy, as electro-chemical energy, or as electrical energy. Each one has different combinations of energy management, bridging power, and power quality features.

SPEAKERS: Andreas Hauer, Chairman of the Board of the Vorstandsvorsitzender Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research, Zae Bayern; Rebekka Köll, Head of Thermal Energy Storage Unit, AEE Intec.

MODULE 10 | Gender Equality in the Energy Storage Sector | May 3, 2021

Presentation | Recording

Gender disparities in labor markets represent losses up to 27% of the GDP in development countries (Cuberes & Teignier, 2012).  Investing in gender equality has worked: for instance, in the Latin America and the Caribbean region between 2000 and 2010, female income contributed 30% to extreme poverty reduction (SEDLAC data, 2011). There is ample evidence that when women realize their full labor market potential, there can be significant macroeconomic gains. In addition, gender diversity is linked to better corporate governance: evidence for China reveals that fraud is minimized by up to 50% when women are part of boards (Cumming et al, 2012). Furthermore, when women represent at least 30% of Board members, companies experience better financial outcomes, increasing up to 34% the return to shareholders. Companies with the most women board directors outperformed those with the least on return on sales by 16% and return on invested capital by 26% (Catalyst, 2013).

SPEAKERS: Nathyeli Acuña, Gender Specialist, ESMAP; Sandra Cauffman, Earth Science Division Deputy Director, NASA.

For more information, please contact Chong Suk Song at esmap@worldbank.org