Renewable energy is expected to grow significantly in the years ahead, as the world increasingly adopts alternative energy sources. In its 2022 Annual Energy Outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) acknowledges that petroleum and natural gas remain the most-consumed sources of energy in the U.S., but renewable energy is the fastest growing.

The charts below from the EIA’s 2022 Annual Energy Outlook illustrate the point.

Key takeaways:

The percentage of electricity generated from renewable energy sources is expected to more than double to 41% by 2050 from only 21% in 2021.
Most of the renewable energy is expected to be sourced from solar and wind with a combined contribution of 82% in 2050, up from 62% in 2021.

The Renewables Problem

Wind turbines do not generate power when the wind is not blowing and solar panels do not produce as much power on cloudy, overcast days than they do on sunny ones. When turbines are spinning and solar panels are working efficiently in the midday sun, they typically generate more power than their Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) allow for sale to the grid.

The challenge to maximizing the contribution of renewable energy sources to the overall energy portfolio is capturing electricity generated from solar and wind during peak production times so it can be sold to the grid when conditions are less than ideal for maximum output. In other words, maintaining a consistent, steady supply of clean energy.

Battery Storage is Key to the Success of Renewable Energy

As a result of the variability in renewable energy production, battery storage facilities are fast becoming a critical part of the renewable energy infrastructure.

That is where battery storage facilities come into play. By capturing and storing electricity produced by renewable sources during peak periods, battery storage makes it for the stored electricity to be delivered to the grid.

Utility-scale battery storage is expected to grow significantly:

Research firm Visiongain reported it projects the grid scale battery storage technologies market to grow a compounded annual rate of 15.6% by 2032.
In its Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (November 23, 2022), EIA expects battery storage to increase by 10 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2023. More than 60% of this battery capacity is intended to be paired with solar power plants.

Keeping Utility-Scale Battery Storage Projects on Track

Investors and renewable energy companies are allocating significant amounts of capital into battery storage projects. Generating a return on these investments is critical to their financial sustainability and ability to deliver a consistent stream of clean energy to the grid.

Two key factors are at play in keeping a battery storage project on track:

Securing use of land in the most advantageous locations
Obtaining the financial bonding and surety requirements

Achieving success for both these elements involves the efficient delivery and execution of Land services. Efficiently and proactively negotiating land leases, securing rights of way, obtaining surface use agreements, assuring title and ownership, and evaluating/mitigating the risk of minerals development all contribute to keeping your project on track. Inefficient and poor management and delivery of Land services can contribute to expensive delays and competitive disadvantages that erode your ROI.

Technology-Driven Land Services

TCO Land Services provides a comprehensive lineup of technology-based services that deliver a consistent, high-quality product in a more efficient way. That means projects get done faster, more accurately and efficiently.

TitleSuite is our technology platform for delivering land services more efficiently, productively, and accurately. That means projects get done faster, more accurately, and efficiently with complete transparency.

TitleSuite allows us to be masters in efficiency. With technology backing every project, our clients receive organized, interactive, and memorialized projects that are easily accessed from anywhere. Over 142 companies and 763 users trust TitleSuite with their critical land records.

TitleSuite Benefits

TCO TitleSuite delivers critical benefits for developers of utility-scale battery storage projects, including:

Complete electronic paper trail of documents to evidence title, substantiate potential minerals development and assure curative.
Clear and concise audit trail to make it easier for title and surety agencies to evaluate and rate project risk.
Speeds M&A due diligence so transactions get closed in an efficient and timely manner.