Abstract
Renewable energy has gained widespread recognition for its potential to drive sustainable power generation and mitigate climate change. However, the rapid expansion of these resources highlights inherent challenges arising from their non-dispatchable, intermittent, and asynchronous nature, underscoring the critical need for grid-scale energy storage. Although numerous storage technologies exist, cohesive insights into commercially available or nearing commercialization remain limited. The review addresses that gap by presenting a comprehensive analysis of marketable grid-scale energy-storage solutions. The discussion begins with an examination of growth dynamics and regional trends in energy-storage capacities worldwide. By using California and Saudi Arabia as representative samples of the Mediterranean and hot desert regions under the Köppen classification, the review illustrates how climatic zones influence energy-storage requirements. After highlighting recyclability challenges associated with lithium-ion batteries, the study explores emerging electrochemical and gravitational-storage technologies. It then articulates critical parameters for evaluating energy-storage solutions and provides a comparative performance analysis. The review concludes by identifying a range of commercialized innovations and recommending a holistic approach to strengthen reliance on renewable energy.
