It’s Official: Fossil Fuels Love Energy Storage, Too

Last Updated on: 30th June 2025, 12:03 pm

Well, whaddaya know. If anyone is still wondering why the US Department of Energy is still providing funds to support advanced new energy storage systems, the leading US electric and gas company Ameren has an answer. Wind and solar are not the only energy resources in need of more storage nowadays. Ameren’s Missouri branch has just applied for a permit to construct its first ever large-scale battery storage system, which will sit alongside a proposed new 800-megawatt gas power plant at the company’s forthcoming Big Hollow Energy Center in Jefferson County, Missouri.

Why Does A Gas Power Plant Need Energy Storage?

Energy storage is a regular topic of conversation over here at CleanTechnica. Storage systems enable energy consumers to keep using solar power after the sun goes goes down, and keep using wind energy when the doldrums hit. Since the turn of the 21st century, the Energy Department has been supporting the domestic wind and solar industries by passing along many taxpayer dollars to innovators in the advanced storage field, including new long duration systems as well as the more familiar battery-type arrays.

Earlier this year US energy policy took a sharp U-turn as Republican office holders in Congress and the Oval Office rallied around the idea of throttling back the US wind and solar industries. The storage industry is also vulnerable, but last week the Energy Department announced a new $15 million round of funding aimed at launching three new storage systems into commercial use, indicating that energy storage is still in play.

So, what gives? The rise of climate impacts, that’s what gives. Although nobody on the Republican side is willing to talk the truth about climate change and its impacts, everyone else is busy preparing for an increase in extreme weather events. If you’re thinking they have been lobbying Republican lawmakers to keep the energy storage ball in play, drop a note in the comment thread.

“The Big Hollow Energy Center combines natural gas and energy storage to supply reliable energy when Missouri needs it most,” Ameren explained in a press release earlier today.

Ameren Missouri president and chairman Mark Birk also chipped in his two cents. “As we transition our generation for the future, we’ll continue to serve our customers with the reliable energy they expect while also preparing for anticipated increases in demand,” Birk said.

“With timely regulatory approval, the energy center will be ready to serve as a reliable backup source of energy for customers in 2028,” Ameren added, making three reliables in one press release.

Energy Storage From The Grid

The idea of building a new 800-megawatt gas power plant is somewhat at odds with Birk’s reference to transitioning the company’s power generation assets “for the future,” but for the purposes of this article let’s focus our attention on the new battery array. The Big Hollow energy storage system will weigh in at a hefty 400 megawatts’ worth of lithium-ion batteries. Ameren states that the system will operate independently from the power plant and recharge itself from the grid whenever extra kilowatts are available.

“Fully charged, the entire array could power thousands of homes for hours and help overall grid reliability, especially during times of peak energy needs,” Ameren Missouri notes.

No word yet on how many of those extra kilowatts will come from renewable resources. Ameren’s portfolio includes a long list of gas, coal, and oil power plants, but it also includes two wind farms totaling almost 700 megawatts along with 515 megawatts of solar distributed among three large-scale operations and a handful of smaller installations.

Another no-emission candidate on the Ameren roster is its 1,194 megawatt Callaway nuclear power plant. Two hydropower plants and a pumped hydropower storage facility add another 823 megawatts combined to round out the picture.

As for the transition to the future, the Big Hollow array is just part of a five-year energy plan Ameren put on record earlier this year. Assuming the Big Hollow permitting process goes smoothly, Ameren expects the array to go online in 2028, with another 600 megawatts forthcoming by 2030 and an additional 800 megawatts by 2042.

The five-year plan does not provide for any growth in coal power generation, though nuclear and gas both feature prominently. On the plus side, the plan also includes adding 2,700 megawatts combined for wind and solar energy by 2030, towards a total of 4,200 MW by 2045.

Next Steps For Energy Storage In The USA

To be extra clear, the idea of supporting more gas power plants with more energy storage is not a particularly useful one in terms of climate action, to say the least. However, the storage angle could help apply some political muscle to the case for renewables, too.

The domestic hydropower fleet, for example, still accounts for about 95% of all large scale, long duration energy storage in the US. That helps explain why hydropower won a slot as a priority energy resource in the “American Energy Dominance” plan unleashed by the White House in January. Unfortunately, Congress did not get the memo, leaving the hydropower industry to lobby hard for relief in the Big Beautiful Bill.

Putting the natural gas angle aside (again), the across-the-board need for more energy storage could help the US storage industry survive over the next 3.5 years, until the current occupant of the White House leaves office — peacefully one hopes, this time — and turns the reins of US energy policy over to someone less compromised and more capable.

That depends on the US electorate, of course. Meanwhile, powerful new forms of energy storage have already begun to emerge. Compressed air is one example. Air factors into new long duration iron-air batteries, too. Flow batteries and thermal batteries are also beginning to find markets.

Energy storage in the form of clean hydrogen is another angle to keep an eye on. In a somewhat bizarre turn of events over the weekend, the Republican members of the US Senate decided that the Big Beautiful Bill should include a two-year extension of the all-important 45V tax credit for hydrogen producers.

“This new adjustment could revive numerous hydrogen projects that faced cancellation under the original tighter timeline,” reported our friends over at Fuel Cell Works earlier today.

“The new extension until January 2028 offers a significant boost, potentially stabilizing investment and planning within the hydrogen sector,” FCW added.

That remains to be seen, but hold on to your hats…or better yet, find your representatives in Congress and ask them why the Republican side of the aisle is still determined to deliver a death blow to the US wind and solar industries.

Image (cropped): The leading US energy provider Ameren indicates that the energy storage movement has broad economic and political clout beyond wind and solar (courtesy of Ameren).