Immediate Power Solutions (IPS): Definition, Benefits, and Impact

Introduction

The relentless advancement of modern technology is made possible by an electrical infrastructure that supplies the essential power and energy needed for future progress. Macro trends in computing, AI, mobile devices, and the electrification of transportation have combined to bring power generation and delivery to the forefront of public consciousness. 

The electrification of everything is now spurring innovation across all segments of electrical infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of energy storage. What was once in the background is now at the forefront. New requirements and technologies are building on each other, resulting in an explosion of new products and applications.

Examples abound:

• Rooftop solar installations are now large enough to cause load defection.
• In the opposing direction, significant increases in electricity demand are jolting the global electric utility industry out of traditional growth rates.
• Energy storage technologies—mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic (capacitors), or electrochemical (batteries/fuel cells) —are rapidly advancing.

Among these, energy storage, batteries in particular, have swiftly transitioned from being overlooked for nearly a century to becoming the focus of major technological advancements, global investments, massive deployments, and even Nobel prizes. Batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), long-duration grid storage, and short-duration applications are now a central concern for technologists, general users, and governments worldwide.

This paper focuses on the expansion in segmentation and applications beyond traditional long duration energy storage (hours to days) to include short duration energy storage (minutes to microseconds) utilizing mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, and electrochemical technologies. Note that all energy storage and short duration power systems share the characteristics of being charged and discharged when desired. This is distinct from power conversion systems which have no storage: examples of converters are wind turbines, solar panels, or diesel generators that convert wind, solar, and chemical power into electricity. Long duration energy storage applications have traditionally been labeled ESS (Energy Storage Systems) and long duration electrochemical (battery) technologies logically evolved to be known as BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems). In this electrified everywhere age, short duration energy storage segments and applications have expanded rapidly based on the surge in use cases and new enabling technologies.

A fundamental difference between long and short duration energy storage is that storage capacity (i.e., energy density) is the highest value characteristic in long duration applications and discharge capacity (i.e., C rate or power density) is the highest value characteristic in short duration applications. Short duration energy storage examples here include mission critical power backup systems, commercial and military pulse power applications, and short duration industrial and grid power stabilization support. The widening gap between long and short-duration energy storage segments and applications, along with the emergence of new technologies tailored to each, necessitates the creation of a new category aptly named Immediate Power Solutions (IPS).

Under the umbrella of IPS, the short duration energy storage stakeholder community can now effectively identify and differentiate their requirements from the long duration labels used incorrectly due to lack of an alternative. An example of the effect of this overlap is the ever-growing family of lithium-ion rechargeable battery technologies, which are inherently high energy density chemistries. These products work well in long duration energy storage applications such as renewables grid storage and EVs. Due to familiarity or cost, or both, they have also been applied to short duration applications where high energy density is a poor fit or even a disadvantage. In this new era, one-size-fits-all application of battery technologies has become obsolete in favor of optimizing products and technologies for the specific applications.

The IPS category helps short duration users, technology providers and services suppliers self-identify and come together to optimize short duration energy storage implementations.

The widening gap between long and short-duration energy storage segments and applications, along with the emergence of new technologies tailored to each, necessitates the creation of a new category aptly named Immediate Power Solutions (IPS).

Immediate Power Solutions Defined

A requirement of short duration energy storage applications is the availability of instantaneous, high-rate power for a range of minutes to microseconds.

Applications for this type of short duration power delivery exist across multiple verticals including industrial and manufacturing, data center, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and even support of long duration energy storage and generation products as they ramp up to peak power. The IPS group of technologies and applications are vital to the growth of all power infrastructure with many of these applications being categorized as critical, mission critical, or life safety. The presence of instantaneous, high-rate power in a mission critical application requires the additional characteristic of safety for IPS technology to remain viable. Further, mission critical applications demand high reliability along with sustainability, which are now prime factors in all short duration energy storage use cases.

Immediate Power Solutions (IPS)

Safe, reliable and sustainable, short duration, high-rate power technologies for critical applications.

Given the above characterization, Immediate Power Solutions (IPS) can be concisely defined as: safe, reliable and sustainable, short duration, high-rate power technologies for critical applications.

Immediate Power Solutions (IPS) address the needs of electrical applications that are defined by the power levels and typically short duration response time required to maintain desired system operation. For example, a 480 VAC three phase UPS system in a datacenter that must provide 1 Megawatt of power within 10 milliseconds and for up to 2 minutes to assure the successful start and synchronization of backup generators. This is an Immediate Power Solution that requires AC and DC power, real and reactive power considerations, and energy typically discharged by mechanical, electromagnetic, or electro-chemical means. IPS is not a new idea, but frequency and severity of problems caused by power outages in computer systems, electric vehicles, medical monitoring equipment, etc. brought forth the importance of the category. As is often the case, new IPS challenges spur the development of new, innovative IPS solutions. Moreover, each new IPS solution will not only address its target application but will also be applicable to a range of similar challenges and applications.

Immediate Power Solutions (IPS): Applications and a Look Ahead

Now that we have defined Immediate Power Solutions (IPS), we can explore their current state and future directions. As illustrated in the previous section, there are multiple technological approaches to IPS, each with its own set of performance characteristics. This allows users to identify applications that fall into the IPS category and compare their requirements to the available technologies.

Understanding the IPS distinction is critical for matching the right technology to the use case. While the world demands more power and energy, not every application requires a long-duration Energy Storage System. Using ESS technology where it’s not the best fit is inefficient. Conversely, employing an IPS product for a 4-hour grid support application is impractical and costly.

Technologies within the IPS space are designed to serve immediate high-power needs for applications such as EV charging infrastructure, mechanical temporary overloads, critical power for data centers, and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) power influxes.

These use cases would be inadequately served by ESS products. For instance, ZincFive nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries can bridge short duration power gaps (1 minute to 5 minutes) in multi-megawatt data center installations with a small footprint, and supercapacitors can fill millisecond voids for electronics to ensure proper function. There are IPS products tailored to each of these needs.

All examples discussed in this paper so far are existing applications with new challenges associated with immediacy, power, and duration. Consider electronic power supplies used for many applications. Power supplies typically have surge power specifications supported on a limited basis by internal capacitance. When placed in an IPS application, traditional power supplies don’t have the ability to respond properly to the new high variability loads. The additional challenges of meeting reliability requirements while safely supporting high variability loads create the opportunity to look to IPS technology as a solution.

New IPS technologies like batteries that exhibit superior power and energy density compared to capacitors, similar cycle life, and simple battery management characteristics are gaining traction in applications like power supply surge capacity.

Another common future IPS application example is microgrid power stabilization when exposed to unpredictable loads and availability of power sources. Microgrids have the same problems as utility scale grids, but on a small enough scale that introduction of a single stabilizing microgrid component can make a significant overall performance difference. IPS technology enables easy management of hybridized fuel cells, diesel, and gas turbine generators by allowing any type of generator to provide immediate power at “time zero.”

A final unique category of the issues IPS can resolve includes unrecognized problems associated with the status quo. Consider a factory that sequentially starts all its process motors to avoid power surges that exceed utility-supplied power limits. An IPS solution can help this factory achieve the operational efficiency benefits of simultaneous motor starting. This type of IPS application example highlights the direct benefits of an IPS solution to both known problems and yet-to-be discovered future IPS application opportunities.

Conclusion

The IPS technologies and applications are essential for the expansion of power infrastructure, with many being classified as critical or mission critical. Clearly differentiating between ESS and IPS is just as significant for addressing power infrastructure challenges effectively. Consequently, this significance necessitates its own distinct category in the market to address the unique demands and ensure robust solutions for these vital applications. Selecting the right IPS solution for each application is essential as we continue to face and solve the power issues created by and resolved by the developing IPS infrastructure.