The growing renewable energy industry has delivered promising results in the United States, as the country gears towards developing projects aimed at reliably storing renewable power sources such as wind and solar. One of the most important discussions we are having during this transformative process is the country’s capability to supply carbon-free energy alone.

Over the past year alone, many states have pledged 100 percent clean energy. Notably, top coal-generating states like Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have either expressed their interest in shifting to renewables or already taking concrete steps in establishing and developing economic blueprint through non-fossil fuel sources in these states, primarily in the form of increased employment in clean energy jobs, particularly in the offshore wind industry.

These historic accomplishments seem to be the precursor to the launch of a large-scale project in Utah called Advanced Clean Energy Storage that will store wind and solar energy—the two biggest renewable energy sources—to “manage the variability of renewable generation,” according to The Financial Times. The plan is to “use a huge salt cavern to store hydrogen or compressed air, which could be used to generate up to 1,000 megawatts of power.” 

A large-scale renewable energy storage provides stability to power grids from “variable” sources such as wind and solar, which will require flexibility to “smooth and balance out” wind and solar fluctuations, according to a Vox report. Furthermore, with the rapidly declining costs of these power sources, Vox explains that “with cheap-enough storage, we can add a ton of it to the grid and absorb just about any fluctuations.”

A recent research published in the Joule journal states that the energy capacity costs below $20 per kilowatt hour to achieve the 100 percent renewable target, which is “around a 90 percent drop from today’s costs,” according to Vox. Moreover, the research posits that “If other sources meet demand 5% of the time, electricity costs fall and the energy capacity cost target rises to $150/kWh.”

Research and projects such as the Advanced Clean Energy Storage are just among the initial groundbreaking efforts that will make it possible for the country to realize its renewable resource potential. These will be instrumental in informing policy that can shape developments in the near future.