And as great as that may be, wide-scale deployment of these technologies has been hindered by a litany of hurdles--one of which is energy storage.
You see, there are several steps that renewably-produced electricity must go through before it can be introduced to the grid or into a home. This has led to the creation of a robust market for advanced electronic products like inverters, converters, generators and batteries.
We've been playing energy storage stocks for a little while at both Green Chip Stocks and the Alternative Energy Speculator through a variety of inverter and demand-response companies.
But a new development in this industry could open up an entire new conduit for profit.
One Energy Storage Stock Via the Hydrogen Sector
Some have dubbed it the "unglamorous pillar" of an energy revolution that is cleaning up the world's energy supply. But energy storage, in my opinion, will soon be the recipient of billions of investment dollars just like the other, more glamorous, aspects of renewable energy.
Although the supply of wind and solar energy far exceeds the world's energy needs, it's not always available at the time when the most demand is put on the grid. So a good bit of improvement in energy storage devices is needed to harness a greater share of the earth's free natural resources more efficiently.
And we're on the brink of the commercialization of a variety of new storage technologies.
UK-based ITM Power plc (LSE: ITM), for example, is placing its bet on the storage of energy in hydrogen. It is developing an electrolyzer that uses solar or wind power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then pressurized and stored for use in electricity production or for powering cars.
The company plans to start production this year of the electrolyzers and next year of hydrogen fuel cells the produce electricity.
Energy Storage for Vehicles
EnerDel's--a subsidiary of Ener1, Inc. (OTC: ENEI)--aim is to supply batteries for the "Th!nk City" electric vehicle, manufactured by Norway's Think Global.
EnerDel has a patented lithium-ion battery which is proving to be lighter and cheaper than its nickel metal hydride rival currently used in some hybrid cars like the Prius.
And lithium-ion has also won the endorsement of Tesla. The company manufacturing the now famed all-electric Tesla Roadster is using them to power tomorrow's electric vehicles.
Investors are already taking note of the potential market for electric vehicle batteries, sending Ener1 on a 284% run in the last year. And shares are still less than a dollar. Take a look:
Energy Storage Stocks for the Grid
Even utilities have their eyes on energy storage as a way of easing dependence on dirty backup plants and preventing the construction of new substations. Some are even using batteries the size of a double-decker bus to store renewably-produced electricity for later use.
Ohio-based American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE: AEP), which delivers electricity to about 5 million customers in 11 states, installed a one megawatt (MW) battery in West Virginia two years ago. The company will add six MW of storage capacity this year before expanding to 1,000 MW in the next decade.
Another company, Beacon Power Corp. (NASDAQ: BCON), is making flywheels that can store energy and aid in relieving pressure on power grids. Beacon builds its own plants using flywheel technology and makes money by selling power to the utility when it's needed.
Beacon's first plant is being built in New York and they plan on seeing revenue from it this year.
Other utilities, like Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL), are also testing ways of storing energy rather than paying to produce more. The company announced last week that it will be testing a one MW battery to store energy from a Minnesota wind farm.
According to some energy storage experts, the cost of one of these "mega batteries" could be as little as half the cost of building a new natural gas-fired peaker plant.
It is obviously cleaner, as well. And that also has its perks in today's market for obvious reasons.
Right now, there are a handful of companies actively pursing this type of technology. Each one is using a different type of battery or energy storage device. But it's not yet clear which one will be ultimate winner.
There could be room for all of them to be successful or just a few companies could beat out the rest. Either way, you have to be on top of this emerging market to know how to play the competitive world of high-performance battery stocks.
The Alternative Energy Speculator is focused on just that. We're already well-positioned to take advantage of the boom in energy storage stocks, as well as other investment opportunities arising on the path to a clean energy future.
Be sure to keep an eye out for a way to subscribe to this service at a discounted rate. It should be headed your way soon.
Until next time,
Nick
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